Distance
by Atelier Joh
Summary: Judith and Flynn fall in love and have children and live happily ever after. The end.
1. Destination Nowhere

A/N: For Wei. Just shut up and read.

**Distance**

**Chapter One : Destination Nowhere**

Judith's travels about Terca Lumireis felt a bit empty after her adventures with Brave Vesperia. It wasn't something the Krityan would admit out loud, though. Make no mistake, she was closer to Ba'ul than she was ever with anyone in the Brave Vesperia Guild, and although the conversations and secrets she shared with her partner in the sky were theirs and theirs alone, the interactions she had with her comrades on the battlefield were not ones that could be replaced, either.

Wandering about the crowded streets of Zaphias, one would have never thought that the great tragedy with the Adephagos happened only a short year ago – no more creatures were aersick, and there was no more need for barrier blastia to shelter the casual citizens from the creatures outside. Certainly monsters still existed, but they were far less aggressive than they had been – people were venturing out of their home towns far more than before, and new, smaller settlements were springing up all across Terca Lumireis. It actually bothered Judith a bit, considering that there were many places where she felt freedom and a sense of pride that only she would touch foot on. Not so much anymore, obviously. It was a sobering thought to think that in as little as twenty years into the future, there may no longer be an unexplored region of Terca Lumreis that she could call her own.

Her shapely figure swaying with her gait, Judith made her way through the streets of Zaphias while her mind was keeping in touch with her partner. The special bond that she had with the Entelexeia was something that could not be replicated by anything else – they could speak into each others' minds. To them, they were two bodies, one soul. It wasn't unlike what she had experienced in her short time in the Circle, though she had no regrets leaving that. It was something only the two of them shared – and given that Ba'ul was the last known Entelexeia in the world aside from Krones encasing Myorzo in the sky, she knew that she had to treasure their time together. Her special skills would not allow her to communicate with the Spirits as she could with the Entelexeia she had bonded with during and prior to her journeys with Brave Vesperia, a thought that made her a bit sad.

Shaking out of her reverie was the faint sound she was all too familiar with. Turning her head to get a better sense of where it was coming from, she grew annoyed at the constant street noise hindering her from her goal. Straining her pricked, pointed ears to pinpoint the location of the sound, she fought through the street traffic – it wasn't too far to find that she was at the entrance to the Lower Quarter. She found it ridiculous that after the entire ordeal that humanity had to suffer through the past year, that there was still a distinction between the higher classes and the lower classes. Such is human nature, she supposed. She shouldn't have been surprised at it.

"There you are," Judith allowed a small smile to cross her face as she bent down to her knees, leveling with the child she heard sobbing. "It's a good thing you didn't stop crying - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find you."

The little boy couldn't have been more than ten. Judith patiently awaited a response as she sized him up. He looked fairly well-taken care of despite his rather ragamuffin appearance – he seemed to exude a sort of pretentious, regal aura which betrayed his tattered clothing and obvious need of a bath. His messy hair shone a brilliant auburn which appeared all the brighter given his deep, brown eyes. Or perhaps it was because of his eyes being swollen from the crying. Either way, after several seconds of being addressed by Judith, he managed to calm down just enough to look her in the eye. "You don't look like you belong here in the Lower Quarter."

Judith chuckled. "That's not the usual reaction I first get," she had to admit out loud. _Maybe when you're older you'll have something else to say._

The boy stood up, dusting what he could of himself off. After thinking for a moment, he took in a deep breath before he continued. "My sincerest apologies for the shameful display I subjected you to."

"There's no need to apologize," Judith shook her head, still on her knees to be eye-level with the child. "There's nothing shameful about crying – when you're sad, be sad. When you're angry, be angry. That way, when you're happy, you can give the biggest smile you can manage." Judith softly smiled.

"Is that the way you live?" The child cocked his head to the side, as if attempting to process what the pretty lady had said. "That goes against everything I've been told."

"Well, you've been alone for quite a while now, haven't you?" Judith's eyes softened a bit as she made her observation aloud. It was obvious that this child was not a native to the Lower Quarter, and while the Lower Quarter denizens tended to stick together according to the stories she heard from Yuri she could tell that this boy most likely had too much pride from his upbringing to accept any charity from them. It was almost cute, if it weren't tragic. "There may be times when it's necessary to hold things in, but that means there are also times when it's necessary to _not_ hold things in."

"You preach a lot, lady." The kid beamed, "I don't find myself minding, though."

"I find that most people tend to listen when I talk," Judith chuckled in return. "So, what happened? Would it make you feel better if the pretty lady in front of you beat up whoever made you cry?"

_That_ elicited a laugh. "Unless you're willing to go to arms with all of Zaphias, I don't think that would end favorably."

"Is that so?" Judith stood up, since her legs were beginning to fall asleep. She could empathize on some level with him, since she sort of felt the same way about Mt. Temza. There were too many memories there – there were some good, some bad, but sometimes it was best to leave memories the way they were: memories. They were nothing more than ghosts of the past, theoretically. Perhaps a change in scenery would work? "Well, the barrier blastia may be gone, but it's still dangerous to go outside of the city limits. Luckily, I have a way out."

"I'm not certain if leaving in a crate suits my best interests." The youngster crossed his arms. "I only survived this long by avoiding dangerous strangers."

"Well, people certainly _tell_ me that I'm dangerous," Judith pondered aloud. It didn't seem that way to her, considering that she always thought of herself as normal. Clapping her hands together as if heralding an epiphany, she couldn't help but a smile plastered itself over her face. "Well, my name is Judith! Now I'm not a stranger anymore."

"Not at least until I give my name to you, Miss Judith." The kid retorted. After a second of waiting, however, he did just that. "You may call me Tristan."

"I think I shall," Judith responded. Her ears pricked a bit, noticing that her partner had responded to her earlier call and lay in wait, most likely behind the mountains. The Fiertia was still attached to him – it felt a bit unnatural trying to remove it, after using it so much. Besides, with Ba'ul's increased size Judith wasn't used to riding atop of him anymore, not to mention the safety issues involved with possibly rolling off of him when she finally managed to be able to doze off. "How about we try a change in scenery?"

-.-.-

"Wow, I've never seen anything like it!" Tristan held on tightly to the railing of the Fiertia as the Entelexeia above them made its way to the Land of Hope.

"I would have expected something like 'I stand dutifully impressed' or some other wording like that – you came off so composed when we first met," Judith observed, allowing another smile to cross her lips as she could almost absorb the joy showcased in Tristan's eyes from being able to see so much of Terca Lumireis at a single glance. "This is the first time I feel like I'm actually talking to a child."

"Well, unless you challenge people's assumptions, you tend to be on the receiving end of the short end of the stick," Tristan sighed for a moment, before allowing himself to be reabsorbed into the sheer delight of enjoying a vantage point of the world from which only a select few have had the pleasure of viewing up until now.

"I understand what you mean," Judith agreed, recalling her own childhood memories. The Circle was certainly an experience in of itself, and she too was treated differently because of it. Even during her journey with her friends which ultimately vanquished the Adephagos, her friends were quick to point out her differences from those who shared her race. It was the result of a decision she made, a choice that belonged to her and her alone, following in her father's footsteps – one that she did not regret, not for a second, not even when she spent her sleepless nights staring at the stars in the skies. Taking in the view and drawing in a deep breath past her lips, she leaned against the rail of the Fiertia as she lowered herself to be more on eye level with her passenger.

"Yeah, I'm certain that people automatically make several assumptions regarding a beautiful lady," Tristan continued. "How long have you and Ba'ul been friends?"

"I met him over ten years ago, now that I think about it." She would never allow that precious memory to fade in her mind, when she stumbled upon the injured young Entelexeia alongside with her father. "It was a time probably before you were born, Tristan."

"The Great War, huh?" Tristan's face once again became solemn, a fact that was apparent even from the profile view Judith had of his expression. She could immediately tell that it was a touchy subject – this wasn't a surprise given the fact that even she unresolved issues about the war itself well into its aftermath, the effects of which could still be felt around the world to this day. In fact, she took it upon herself to fix a mistake that someone very dear to her made that directly affected the events of that which could only be described as a catastrophe.

Returning to a previous comment, Judith attempted steer the topic away from what would only be an inevitable dour endeavor to reminisce about something neither of them would have been interested in discussing at this point in time. "Yes, as a woman people tend to treat me a certain way," she said, "I tend to try to have fun with it. I'm told that I'm rather straightforward individual, so when people want to underestimate me I have no qualms letting them become surprised with the truth. Obviously it's more pleasant for me than it is for them." She gave a wink, and Tristan could swear that he could see a heart manifest itself, dancing about her head as she finished her sentence.

"There's land! And I see a town!" Tristan noticed. It has been a while that they saw nothing but ocean and the occasional rock jut out of the ocean. The sight was amazing, yes, but it was amazing seeing an actual settlement in the middle of seemingly nowhere – Tristan recalled a similar feeling as they left Zaphias, as the grand capital of the Empire was surrounded by nothing but nature, growing ever smaller over the horizon as they made their way away from it.

"The Land of Hope, Aurnion." Judith answered the question that wasn't given, proud to have been part of its christening all that time ago when all those people were isolated in this uncharted land all that time ago. The wind in her hair, the air smelled familiar as their advent toward the settlement neared ever closer. By now the people of Aurnion were used to the sight of the giant Entelexeia enough to not be alarmed – it was something that was difficult, to say the least. On one hand, Judith wanted to keep a sort of bond with Ba'ul as a secret that only they shared. On the other hand, it was beneficial to not have every town they approach think that a monster was encroaching upon their right to live, and thus counter in a hostile fashion. Clearly it was a case where it was in her comrade's best interest to not be selfish.

As Ba'ul lowered himself, Judith kneeled next to Tristan. "Go ahead, I promise that everyone here is friendly. I'll be over in a minute, all right?" The young boy nodded enthusiastically before running off like the kid he tried to not act like during their short time together. Judith then turned her attention, looking up at Ba'ul. Worry tinted her crimson eyes as something seemed off – she noticed it shortly after the ordeal with the Adephagos, but…

Shaking her head, she heard Ba'ul ensuring her that everything was all right. Her hips swaying the way they always did as if without interruption, she made her way into Aurnion as Ba'ul returned to the skies.


	2. Wish

**Chapter Two : Wish**

"_There's_ a familiar sight," Judith kneeled down once again as Repede made his way right as she stepped foot into the settlement, shaking his paw. From Repede's presence, Judith knew what to expect next – there were only two people who had 'custody' of Repede at any given time, and she knew where Yuri was. Standing up as she placed her hands behind her back, thus accenting her breasts, she gave a smile to the man she knew would be there as she rose. "It's nice to see you again, Commandant."

"Miss Judith," Flynn blushed a bit at her sudden bounce, but even as his cheek's blood vessels betrayed his cordiality the rest of his body did not as he gave her a polite salute. "Making your rounds along the continents of Terca Lumireis once again, I see." Repede quickly made his way back to Flynn's side, seating himself rightfully as his right-hand partner.

"Well, everyone has a home, don't they?" Judith commented, just slightly turning her head. This was the first time the two of them actually saw each other face to face, one on one in… perhaps ever. Brave Vesperia hadn't disbanded, but she was never present for the meetings. Flynn, who was the face of the symbol that the people needed to believe was the hero. There was the slightest pang of jealousy, but Judith never enjoyed that sort of pressure of the spotlight to begin with, so she found no real complaints in that regard.

It wasn't a strange thought that people of the world were still ignorant as to the truth of what had transpired all that time ago. It was the choice that they, Brave Vesperia, had made together as a Guild. Unfortunately, it had seemed as if they had all gone their separate ways since then.

"For instance, we all know what's going on with Estelle," Judith continued.

"Lady Estellise has her duties as one of the rightful heirs to the throne, and with Dein Nomos recovered it's only a matter of time before politics engulf the Empire entirely in addition to our soft truce with the Guilds." Flynn's face just shone the slightest hint of exhaustion at the mere thought of how to even handle that when the hurdle decided to rear its ugly head. The sacred blade called Dein Nomos was found one day in the entrance of the imperial castle one morning, between the shift in guards – it was obvious Duke didn't want to be recognized, and knew what he was doing. It was a miracle that they even managed to put off the coronation for this long. "Not that the Empire has _never_ been engulfed in politics." He glanced around before making that last comment, making certain nobody else was listening in on him.

"I know that Rita's busy with her research as always," Judith said. She didn't understand all of it, but when she managed to meet up with her during her last stop in Halure Rita went on about concentrating on this new energy of mana to harness, and seeing the applications that could be used by formulating whatever it was – Judith never understood such complex measures, but speaking with Rita and seeing how passionate she was about her research managed to remind her of her father, so she always wore her smile whenever the two of them spoke. "Have you been able to adjust to fighting?"

Flynn nodded. "Training regimens have to be completely revamped, and being a mage has taken on an entirely new meaning."

"That's true," Judith responded. She was just glad that somehow she was able to harness mana in place of the aer her now-defunct bodhi blastia when she found she had to find some stress relief on the battlefield. "The flora and fauna of Terca Lumireis have changed with the advent of mana as well – I can only hope that your survival this long is a precedent for the future. Living without barrier blastia is scary for many people, but the fact that this land has been fortunate enough to survive and thrive… well. That should speak for itself."

It went without saying that Karol and Yuri were still busy with Brave Vesperia. "Yuri and Karol were here last week, along with Harry Whitehorse and Raven." Flynn recalled that meeting. Karol was growing up to be a splendid young man and Yuri may have been mostly hands-off, but it was always good seeing an old friend.

"I'm not surprised - you'd have better luck tearing down a Giganto Monster one-handed than attempting to get Raven to leave Harry Whitehorse's side." Judith responded. "One of these days I'm going to have to ask him just what is going on with that."

"Back to the first topic at hand," Flynn spoke after another moment of silence, and he finally made eye contact with Judith once more. "How are your travels?"

"I just came from Zaphias, actually," Judith accented that last word with the placement of her hand on her collar bone, tilting her stance ever so slightly. It was fun making the good boy flush, even in the smallest way – Flynn of all people made her earn it. "Someone found the capital too stuffy for their tastes, so I brought them here." She turned her head to find that Tristan was busy exploring Aurnion's centerpiece, taking in the ambiance of the hamlet.

"I see," Flynn nodded in response, averted his eyes to the floor in order to avoid being distracted by the Krityan's body language. "We just finished raising a few new buildings this past week – a few are still unoccupied." In fact, that's why Yuri and Karol were there previously – to negotiate with the Guilds to help sell raw building supplies at an affordable rate.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Judith took a side step and leaned in closer into Flynn's line of sight, advertently giving him ample view of her bosom. "Because what I'm thinking is going to be _fun_."

"It sounds like a splendid idea, actually," Flynn forced a smile, forcing himself to not play along with the double meaning in her words.

-.-.-

"Do you think this would do well to serve as your new home?" The door creaked only slightly as it was freshly greased, swaying at Judith's slightest touch. Tristan looked inside cautiously at first, and then ran inside and all around, testing out the space. "It's two stories," Judith observed, "and we could build several partitions for a bedroom, a dining table, that sort of thing. There's still plenty of forest left in the southern part of this continent, after all." She turned to Flynn, who was looking at Tristan.

"You do make the oddest band of acquaintances, I must say," Flynn commented, finally meeting Judith's gaze after several seconds.

"You're one to talk," Judith nudged Flynn's armored ribcage with her elbow as the two chuckled, knowing that even without words, Yuri's impact on both of their lives was present.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything," Tristan made his way back to Judith and Flynn at the doorway, all of the sudden displaying rather shy behavior. His left foot was twisting into the new – yet dusty – floor as his head tilted down while his eyes tilted up. "But do you really intend to leave me here all alone to live all by my lonesome self?"

"The child's smart – I have to warn you," Judith blinked twice before looking at Flynn. "Would there be anyone in town willing to give him a hand?"

"No!" Tristan interjected, his left foot's stomp resounding through the hollow household. "It _has_ to be you, Miss Judith!"

"I have absolutely no idea how to respond to this situation," Flynn had to admit as he placed his hands on his hips. "They never covered this in the training manual."

"I'm not certain what the neighbors would say about this living situation," Judith commented, placing her chin into the palm of her hand as her fingers delicately stroked the side of her face.

-.-.-

It started out simply enough.

Within a week, there were four kids including Tristan. Most of them war orphans, if what happened with the Adephagos could have been called a war. Judith was hesitant at first, but Tristan had been fairly adamant, and… well, there was another reason she had to limit her movements. Besides, Flynn had also promised to help pitch in when he was stationed at Aurnion. Given Aurnion's position as a middle ground between the Empire and the Guilds, he found himself there several times. Though Commandant, the people respected him for helping out at the orphanage and pitched in a few supplies.

However, it was unspoken yet clear that this project was headed by both Flynn and Judith.

It worked out better for the kids, anyway – Tristan had established himself as the leader of sorts for the kids. Even the older ones deferred to him to some degree; he wasn't overly bossy, but as the first child in this orphanage he had a certain presence combined with his innate charisma that just shone brightly, helping out with the chores and keeping everyone busy.

"It's nice of you to have dinner with us so often," Judith commented, as she continued chopping the vegetables in a manner which would have left a monster in pieces – she was never quite expecting to live such a domestic lifestyle, and cooking and cleaning was easy enough to do, it was… how would she put it? She wasn't certain. The building was now fully though modestly furnished thanks to donations from the townspeople and her friends. She ended up using one of her old spears to fill a hole in the planks above the front door, but in the end she had to be grateful.

"They always attempt to feed me fancy feasts when I attend political gatherings," Flynn sighed. "They obviously don't know my taste." He grew up in the Lower Quarter – his favorite meals were always those he had with his mother and Yuri. Home cooked old fashioned food. Judith's cooking was far closer to that than the displays he was often subjected to. It was a good thing that Yuri warned Judith early on to avoid having a Flynn in the kitchen sans the exception of cleaning. "This place and your cookingboth remind me of the house I grew up in."

"I just hope your soldiers aren't missing their Commandant," Judith chuckled as she put the vegetables into the stew, and began to stir. She admitted to nobody but herself that having Flynn involved in this project seemed a bit risky – if anybody decided to want to cause any further chaos and destruction by shattering the shaky alliance between the Empire and the Guilds, this make-shift orphanage would have been an easy target. She didn't share these concerns with anyone, however – from what Yuri had told her of Flynn, she was confident that he, too, knew of the potential consequences.

"Of course they do. But they have families of their own to attend to, many in this settlement." Flynn answered almost immediately – to Judith, it was a bit surprising. Did he think of this place as sort of a family? The thought didn't occur to her until she heard those words. "When there's peace, we need to be able to enjoy it – it, unfortunately, does not last forever."

"Peace, revolution, war, defeat – it spins on and on in a sad tango." It was more of a statement than poetic wording. Yes, she fought for peace, but now in the midst of it, Judith wasn't entirely certain what to do with herself. Perhaps this was a start of something entirely new.

"You have an eloquent way of wording things," Flynn chuckled.

"I don't have your raw charisma," Judith responded, taking a seat across from him as she crossed her legs and leaned her face against her hands, staring into his blue eyes.

"Should we call the kids in soon?" Flynn asked, "The stew's about ready isn't it?"

"They'll come in when they smell it and get tired of playing outside," Judith chuckled, her leg gently began to caress his calf – she made certain it wasn't subtle.

"Have you ever given any thought to perhaps joining the knights?" Flynn wasn't entirely certain how to react, so he changed the subject. His face had a visible blush over it as he slightly moved his leg away from Judith's, thinking perhaps it was a mistake. "We don't have anybody in our ranks adept at aerial juggling – when I hear stories of your prowess on the battlefield from Yuri, the hair on the back of my neck stands up in fright from the thought of going toe to toe with you."

"You know very well the answer to your question." Judith let out a soft sigh. If she were disappointed on any level, she took extreme care as to not show it. "It's still forbidden for anyone in the Guilds to have that kind of connection with the Empire."

"I haven't seen you even meet with anyone from Brave Vesperia recently," Flynn observed. "As far as I know, you're the only Krityan in this entire settlement."

"You seem awfully fond of stating the obvious," Judith's eyes narrowed. It was slightly irritating – she was hoping he would take the hint and he pulled his leg away, she did so in turn. "Both Estelle and Rita are scheduled to appear in a few days for the scheduled summit regarding the progress of their mana formulas, are they not? I'd assume that Yuri, Karol, and Raven would appear on behalf of the guilds as well."

"That's right," Flynn nodded, "a new guild has popped up called Heimdall's Horn, quickly rivaling the Imperial Mages in the development and study of mana." Yes, it was notable for that fact alone, but it was also quite interesting because it was mostly made up of erstwhile Kritya. "I believe this will be the first time the two groups are meant to meet, as well as to more or less hold public demonstrations of their findings."

"I don't know much about that sort of thing, but mana seems particularly dangerous considering that unlike aer, it isn't necessary to utilize any kind of blastia in order to access its power." Judith was barely able to comprehend how Rita explained it, but apparently as long as you had some sort of formula, mana could have been utilized without having to be refined through a blastia core - or so she was able to understand from both Rita and Hermes' explanations. "The Empire no longer has the ability to regulate weapons development considering blastia are no longer necessary. I also imagine the Guilds that focused on the excavation and distribution of weaponized blastia can't be all that pleased that they're out of a job."

"That and the trade tariffs all around aren't making anybody any friends," Flynn added, sighing. "I'm fairly certain it was easier fighting for peace than keeping it."

"There weren't any clear instances of right or wrong," Judith commented. "At least not with Duke – he fought for the Entelexeia, whether they wanted it or not. Here, at least, it feels simpler: work for the people to coexist, not for the corrupt rich to take advantage of everyone and war-time profits." She let a slight smile finally show itself.

"You're right;" Flynn smiled in kind, "that actually makes me feel a bit better."

Judith allowed her hand to lightly fall onto the table, near his, and their fingertips touched – she could have sworn that a slight twinge of electricity ran through that point of contact. Looking into his bewildered blue eyes, she saw her own reflection. Judith began to lean in, teasing with the purse of her lips.

"It's getting dark out and Tristan won't let the game end!"

Both sets of their eyes shot toward the door as one of the children, Anise, loudly heralded her announcement with the bang of the door.

Flynn only chuckled as he got up. "Don't worry about it, Judith – I'll get the children. Please begin serving the meal." It took a bit of effort on his part to drop the 'Miss' title, but after Judith gave him enough stern looks he finally managed to shake off the habit.

As she stared at his back leaving the table and his shirt disappear behind the door that swung shut after him, Judith found herself not moving an inch. "Actually, for me, it may be harder now," she whispered. She found that on the battlefield, might made right – and she was more often right than not. In these times, she wasn't certain _what_ would enable her to continue on. After a moment, she finally stood up and walked over to the stove, making certain that the stew wasn't burnt.


	3. Refrain

**Chapter Three : Refrain**

"Dunamis Orphanage?"

Judith turned around, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Pardon," she asked, making eye contact with the mage who made the query. In front of her were Rita with her hands on her hips, and Estelle with her hands folded in front of her ever so elegantly.

"That's what it says so over the door," Rita pointed at the building. Looking up, Judith saw that Rita was pointing to one of the old spears she lodged into a crack. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's not the name at all," Judith responded, folding her hands behind her and shifting the way she leaned her weight to the side.

"I think it's a wonderful name!" Estelle happily exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "It's a name that inspires hope for the future!"

"Really now?" Judith tilted her head, as if pondering that statement. Then again, Estelle certainly knew her names – she's the one who had christened the Four Great Elemental Spirits, after all. "Pray tell, Princess, what does the name mean?"

"_Dunamis_," Estelle closed her eyes and tilted her head back, as if reciting a passage from a book she has ingrained into her memory. It was a sight both Rita and Judith were all too familiar with. "_A word used to describe the effect of a superior purpose inspiring you towards greatness._" Estelle then lowered her head with a smile as she took another look at the spear above the orphanage. "It's not so much an actual noun as it is an adjective, really. With this name, I wouldn't be surprised if a great hero were to be tempered through this place."

"It goes against all scientific reasoning, but it's a nice thought." Rita had to fight with every ounce of her being to not roll her eyes at that moment. "Still, I'm surprised that _you_ of all people are running an orphanage – you seem like the type of person who'd stay away from babies because you'd be afraid of breaking them or something."

"It's not really talking behind my back if you say it right in front of me," Judith chuckled. "When you say such harsh things, you just might hurt my feelings, Rita." Rita was right, though – Judith had absolutely zero experience with handling infants and toddlers, and it was only by sheer luck that the children currently under her care were old enough to take care of themselves to some extent. "If you ask me, you two would make better parents than I would."

Estelle shook her head before responding. "We're all girls here – it's not a competition. We all desire the strength to protect someone or something dear to us, I think. As women, it's our duty to be the integral foundation of society – without us, the world as we know it would end!"

"Of course it's a competition!" Rita sharply turned her head to Estelle as she snapped at her. "You're the one always complaining about not being as bouncy as Judith!"

"It's just not fair!" Estelle pouted, turning at Rita as they began to bicker. "Even you grew a lot this past year, Rita! I've only stayed the same!"

"Some things just don't change, do they?" Judith silently commented to herself as Rita and Estelle continued their friendly quarrel. It was comforting, actually, to see that there were things which could be considered timeless and unchanging – things _had_ to change for her soon, and she had no say in it, it felt like. Nobody understood that. Nobody would ever understand it. At least, the only person who did was slowly slipping away – she was envious.

It was always the people left behind that had to actually deal with the change.

The thought of that made Judith tense.

-.-.-

"So, that's the band of Kritya who formed Heimdall's Horn." Judith observed, perched atop of the fence from a distance, watching as the Guild entered Aurnion's gate. They certainly _were_ a lot of Kritya gathered together – aside from what was formerly at Mt. Temza and what was currently in Myorzo, Judith hadn't seen this many Kritya together. It was almost jarring, seeing so many people – it was also obvious they did not have anything to do with the Circle, either – it was something a Krityan could tell right away simply by looking into another's eyes.

"It's an impressive sight, isn't it?" Flynn responded, looking up from the ground. "They've been causing quite a stir – also, there've been talks of Krones coming down and Myorzo settling into the Yurzorea continent."

Judith silently took that information in. Of course, if she were still in the Circle, she would have known this information already. Krones had been afloat for the past year because of all of the aer its apatheia had absorbed throughout the ages – with this new age upon them, it was time to change, wasn't it?

It was time to change, having to adapt to the situation that would occur the day after tomorrow. Nothing would stay the same, would it? Denying it would do no good, and throwing a temper tantrum or a hissy fit would do no good, either.

"I have no interest in joining them, if that's what you're thinking." Judith finally spoke, after the group of Kritya has made their way to the newly constructed town hall.

"I didn't say anything," Flynn responded, looking a bit bewildered.

"I'm not going to join the Imperial Knights, I'm not going to join Heimdall's Horn, and I'm only a satellite member of Brave Vesperia – and I'm certainly never going to return to the Circle." Judith hopped down, and dusted herself off before turning around making eye contact with Flynn. "I appreciate the thought, though." She gave an empty smile – it was cordiality, nothing more.

"I don't even know what the Circle is," Flynn lowered his head, unsure as how to respond. "Judith, I don't want you to be here because you're forced to. You deserve everything you want."

"There it is again, your charisma," Judith turned around so that Flynn could only see her back as she began taking steps to walk away. "I'm taking a walk now." It was more of a statement than a question or asking of permission – she was going to go on this walk whether Flynn had anything to say about it or not.

"If you need anything, I hope you can feel free to bring it up with me," he whispered just loud enough so that her ears could catch it before his voice disappeared completely.

-.-.-

Though Estelle and Rita had a meeting representing the Imperial Mages, Judith had no interest in such a thing. Instead, while Flynn had a day off and took the time playing with the kids, she decided to take a walk about Aurnion – she _tried_ playing with the kids at times, but they always seemed to prefer playing with Flynn. He certainly was a sweet guy, and she enjoyed spending time with the children, but they simply didn't have that sort of relationship. It reminded her of a comment that Yuri once said – while Repede liked Yuri better, the dog enjoyed playing with Flynn more. Perhaps it was simply the different roles people played in the lives of those around them – you can't fill each and every role, or the stage would be rather empty.

Even though she told herself that, she still felt rather alone.

She valued her independence. Ever since the days of the Great War up until the day she enlisted herself as one of the first members of the guild Brave Vesperia she had always been alone.

No, that was a lie.

_He_ had always been there for her.

For the first time in a very long time, she took one of her walks in solitude. It was a long walk to make up for all of the lost time. But the target was the area between Baction and the Egothor Forest – a tiny nook in the mountains where _he_ rested.

Her ears pricked as her antennae picked up the all-too-familiar signal that she expected to find. But something was different – the sensation was weaker. It was to be expected, but it was a cruel truth.

Finally seeing the blue fur that was all too familiar to her, Judith took a seat on a rock as she began to softly pet Ba'ul's jaw – he certainly did grow from before, but now, even with his enormous size, he just seemed so small and frail, just like she first met him. Judith's eyes were colored with concern as her friend's moan shook the ground underneath them. "We can speak into each others' minds, but this is the one time I've found that I… simply can't understand you." Judith softly spoke aloud, unsure as to what was happening.

"We thought we might find you around here."

Judith didn't even have to turn her head, but her crimson eyes met with the two young women in front of her regardless. "You're getting sneakier," first at the one who spoke, Rita, and then to Estelle, the princess who looked far more concerned than any of them.

"The convention can wait – we thought it odd that even Flynn hadn't seen Ba'ul in a while," Estelle explained, her hands clasped in front of her chest. "Judith, what aren't you telling us?"

Judith simply stared at the two of them, her hand still stroking Ba'ul's fur. She wasn't certain how to explain it.

"The Entelexeia need aer," Rita turned and explained to both Estelle and Judith."With the advent of mana, aer has become increasingly rare.I'm assuming that Ba'ul was fine at first, but the limited amounts of aer available are finally beginning to show their effects on the poor thing." Rita looks around, looking for any clue that would confirm her hypothesis. "Somewhere on this continent must have been the remnants of _something_ that resembled an aer krene, or else Astal wouldn't have had his shrine as his home base."

"So, that's what's happening," Judith sighed. That's what the words were. It was both refreshing and humiliating having to hear it from someone else, but at least it came from her friends. On some level she already knew, but hearing it out loud was just confirming it. Ba'ul let out another moan. "The aer krene must be nearly depleted – hindsight right now, but we should have converted Ba'ul to a Spirit a long time ago."

Estelle shook her head. "No, Judith, you did the right thing. Ba'ul had only just finished evolving from a childlike form, and without his assistance, we could have never reached Tarquaron. I'm certain that your partner has no regrets about the decisions you made on behalf of him either, correct?"

"That's a poetic way of putting it," Rita sighed. "The fact is Ba'ul's dying. Straight and simple, and there's little we can do about it."

"No, maybe we can convert him into a Spirit right now?" Estelle turned to Rita, imploring her. "You know this sort of thing, Rita! You can adjust the formulas or something, can't you?"

Judith leaned back, crossing her legs as she observed this exchange between the two women. It was almost entertaining – they were far more expressive than she had been on the topic. She couldn't let herself break down. She won't. "Ba'ul has made it quite clear to me," Judith finally and silently interjected after several more arguments were made from either side, "So the possibility of it even happening is a moot point. He does not wish to become a Spirit now or ever."

"But what about when the Four Elemental Spirits spoke to him before?" Estelle turned, objecting. "He seemed fine with it then!"

"That was then, this is now." Judith turned her eyes to the young woman. This princess may have had her whims, but that's what was endearing about her – she was no longer naïve as she was before and still believed in a world where there were absolute rights and wrongs. She had a vision, a purpose, and she was doing very well at it – Judith's view of her had certainly came a long way since they met that short time ago. "He tells me that he doesn't want to live on forever."

"But-"

"Estelle!" Rita sharply snapped at the pink-haired princess with a gaze that could pierce mountains. The woman she addressed flinched at the tone – she would never get used to being reprimanded. Rita's gaze softened a little as she took a step toward Estelle, placing her own hand onto Estelle's clenched fists. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Isn't that right, Judith?"

Judith stared at Rita for a moment before answering. "That's the only way it would make sense." To be truthful, she didn't know _what_ Ba'ul was feeling in words – all she could sense was the raw emotion at the time, which was pain. It was starvation. It had overtones of hunger.

Most of all, it was loneliness.

"I think I understand," Estelle silently whispered. "Either he dies during our lifetime, by Judith's side, watching over her… or he lives on forever as a Spirit, without the partner he finds so dear."

Judith's paused at those words, turning to look at Estelle. Her eyes widened just a bit before narrowing once again, words on the tip of her tongue before she thought better.

"Oh, I'm sorry - I spoke out of turn!" Estelle quickly retracted her statement, turning to Judith and bowing in apology. "I shouldn't be so conceited as to speak for him."

"It's all right," Judith shook her head, reassuring the woman, a smile overlaying her sad eyes. "You've grown a lot, Estelle. I mean it." The pink-haired woman in front of her was one who was always empathizing with those around her, who couldn't contain her curiosity, and who couldn't leave anything just be – Judith counted this woman as one of her friends.

"Yeah, and it's only thanks to _you_ that my studies on mana have been going so smoothly!" Rita chirped in, giving Estelle a slight nudge from behind, not to be outdone by Judith. "The formulas we worked on during our adventure were just a precursor – without you and the program embedded into the being of the Children of the Full Moon, I would _never_ have figured out half of what we know now!"

"Speaking of formulas, I always wondered," Estelle began, "what is going on with Raven's blastia?"

"Seriously, you didn't know?" Rita's expression went from confiding to annoyed in a heartbeat. "It's been over a year and _now_ you ask that question?!"

"I think it's fairly legitimate, all things considered!" Estelle retorted, standing up for herself.

"Raven's heart blastia is a special blastia," Rita crossed her arms as she begrudgingly explained, "it's one that instead of having an actual core made out of apatheia, it uses an alternative formula-base that allows his own life-force to basically make a recursive loop: as long as his body holds up, his life-force will power the blastia to keep his heart beating. It's like when I altered your coding so that instead of using aer, your artes temporarily used your own life force, remember?"

"That's so fascinating!" Estelle leaned down to get a better listen.

Judith observed the two women in front of her as they continued their exchange. It usually ended like this, didn't it? Her fingers running through Ba'ul's fur, Judith leaned her head against his jaw as she reminisced how they all had their adventure, and how happy both Rita and Estelle were being able to enjoy each other's company despite the fact that Estelle was the crown princess. Everybody had someone. Everybody had responsibilities, but they could be together like this and laugh together in merriment, and make many happy memories that could be recalled upon one day.

Ba'ul moaned once more, a bit happily.

"Anyway, I have this huge new breakthrough!" Rita pumped her arms, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm still working on it, but I assure you…!"

"It's going to be amazing, isn't it?" Judith finished her sentence.

"Damn straight!"

"Ba'ul needs some rest – how about we go to Baction to talk?" Judith stood up, offering a suggestion as she hopped down from her perch. "We'll make less noise there."

"Sure, lead the way," Rita rolled her eyes as she sarcastically addressed Judith with her sharp tone. As both Rita and Estelle watched Judith's back, they looked at each other before following suit.

"When are we going to tell her about the thing we were planning, Rita?" Estelle asked, catching a quick sideward glimpse of the Entelexeia behind them. "I mean-"

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it," Rita interrupted. "I still have the work out the variables in the equation, but you know I sure as Hell won't let things end this way."

"Thank goodness," Estelle gave a sigh of relief as she closed her eyes. "Say, Rita?"

"What?"

"Thanks for being my friend!" Estelle squeezed Rita's hand happily, before dashing in front of her in behind Judith. "Last one there's buying us lunch later!"

"I don't mind making the Empire pay the tab," Rita confidently smiled, as she ran after the other two women.


	4. Moonlight Legend

**Chapter Four : Moonlight Legend**

The old shrine was dilapidated to begin with, but it was in worse shape thanks to Brave Vesperia's encounter with Captain Schwann Oltorain the year prior. "I know there was an earthquake recently, and apparently it opened up the entrance a bit more again." Judith commented, as she slowed down and turned around to face her companions. "If all else fails, I'm certain that one of Rita's artes could easily also blow away some debris."

"Hey, concentrating on casting is hard enough!" Rita puffed out her cheeks. "Do you _know_ what a fire hazard some of our battles were with me casting my fire elemental artes? I wouldn't be surprised if that's how the Desier continent got so barren!"

"It's been so long since we last came here," Estelle recalled. She didn't get to explore it with the rest of the group considering she had been… otherwise occupied. She bit her lower lip at the recollection of that memory, holding it in.

"Estelle, we don't have to be here if you don't want to be," Rita's eyebrows angled down. That time was especially difficult. Alexei Dinoia, the former Commandant – a hero that the people of the Empire looked up to, who ended up betraying not only the people he was charged with protecting with, but also the world itself with his deeds. In his thirst for power, he had used Raven to kidnap the Princess Estellise Sidos Heurassein in order to manipulate the power of the Child of the Full Moon inherent in her bloodline. He also killed the Entelexeia to gather their apatheia, the cores of condensed aer that were crucial to his plans to rule the world through fear.

"No, I love ancient ruins!" Estelle responded, "I want to take a look around and _enjoy_ it this time! I mean, I can't even _find_ anything in books about this shrine! Plus," Estelle's voiced wavered for just a second as she placed her hands together on top of her chest as her tone lowered, "I want to see the place that remembers Astal."

Astal, the Entelexeia that used to be worshipped in this shrine, gunned down in the very place he was hailed in praise. The Entelexeia were once revered as gods, yet just so many years ago humanity fought against them as if they were mindless beasts. "If it's winners that write the history books, then I want to be able to one day write about what terrible tragedies we've suffered, so that those in the future may not have to worry about repeating the same errors that we have." Estelle's face became filled with determination as she looked at Rita, then Judith. "Let's go."

"That girl," Rita sighed as Estelle made her way past the mage, "I swear – once she makes up her mind, there's just no stopping her is there? Humans are humans – we'll make mistakes whether we like it or not. We're not going to be around when something happens again to stop it even if we wanted to." She then finally began walking behind Estelle, the scroll holstered on her waist swaying with her movements; the year had been kind to her figure.

"No, we're not, are we?" Judith agreed, turned as Estelle nearly brushed her side as the princess walked toward the entrance. "Still, let the girl have her fun – there's no harm in taking a small tour, is there?"

"I'm going to leave you both behind if you don't keep up," Estelle turned around and winked a bit before continuing on.

"She certainly gained an attitude over this past year," Rita said.

"You've certainly lost some of yours, Rita." Judith smiled.

The three continued their gossip as they made their way through the shrine. The usual topics were covered, such as who was up to what, how Judith's band of orphans were doing, some advancements in the council's plan on electing a new Emperor, and how Yuri and the rest were doing at the Guilds. After some wandering, they finally came to the statue of Astal they recognized.

"We aren't alone," Estelle noticed, taking a look around as she attempted to pinpoint what she was feeling. All around them, energy was circulating ever since they stepped foot into the room – it wasn't entirely unlike being in an aer krene, but there just seemed to be a warm light – not something that would cause everything to crumble out of control, but something that would ensure you that everything would be all right.

"There's an incredible amount of mana gathered here," Rita observed, "Far more than you'd expect there to be. With this much concentration, it can only mean…" She knew this feeling. The last time she encountered this much energy was over a year ago when she and Estelle had transmuted the apatheia into something else.

"That's right," Estelle confirmed, letting down her guard. "A Spirit is here."

As if on cue, the room began to become aglow with a light that emerged from the bricks and form in front of the statue of Astal, culminating into a tall pillar of light that destroyed the statue as a tall, winged being stood in its place. It took on the form of an angelic woman with four golden-colored wings, seated upon the rubble of the statue. Opening its eyes, the Spirit gazed upon her visitors.

"That's right – if we converted all of the apatheia into Spirits after our fight with Duke, then that could only mean that Astal's core would become a Spirit as well, returning to this place." Judith remarked, also letting down her guard. They never recovered Astal's apatheia after the battle. It must have made its way back to the shrine due to the memories stored within it.

"Another Spirit – this is amazing!" Rita's eyes widened, "We've only met the Four Elemental Spirits. What are you?" Her scientific curiosity was piqued, to say the least.

"I do not have a name, but yes, I am the Spirit born from the apatheia of the Entelexeia who was known as Astal," the Spirit responded, its face unchanging.

"That sounds like a mouthful," Judith chuckled as she turned to Estelle. "Why don't you name this one as well, Estelle?"

Estelle nodded before turning back to the Spirit in front of her. "If it's all right with you, ma'am, I would like to give you a name. The other Spirits have names, you see, and I thought it would be nice if you had one, too."

"Don't tell me this was what you were planning all along," Rita concluded, amused at the princess' craftiness.

The Spirit ignored Rita's comments and locked eyes with the princess, anticipating what would come next. After a few seconds, it finally nodded in response, giving consent.

"A brilliant light shone, golden as the sun, beaming as a ray of hope to all who have fallen…" Estelle pondered aloud, lowering her head. After several seconds, she looked up and gave the Spirit eye contact. "I have the perfect name for you," she smiled. "_Rem_: the herald of all that shines splendidly."

"So it shall be," Rem responded, finally giving a slight smile on its face. "I shall so govern the light that envelopes this world in warmth as the Spirit who protects: Rem." With that, the Spirit's body was once again aglow with light as the mana constructing its appearance faded, melting back into the room.

"Now that we got _that_ done, what was the other thing you were going to tell me?" Judith turned to Rita. "Was it something special with your mana formulas? You've got to keep Heimdall's Horn on their toes if you want to come out ahead."

"Actually," Rita placed a hand on her hip as her free hand drew some imaginary equations to the side as Rita imagined them. "From my research, I think there are energies out there other than aer or mana."

"Really?" Judith tilted her weight as she listened.

"Raven's blastia uses his life force, which struck me as odd," Rita continued, "So I was wondering about the applications. Turns out that there's energy _everywhere_, not just in the form of aer or mana – the earth, the wind, the breath of life, all of it is around us. Yes, we have the Spirits of the elements, but even before Undine manifested, we had water, right? Even without Efreet there was fire. Same thing here – while mana and the Spirits saturate our world now thanks to our bout with the Adephagos, there's energy that's always been there."

"Are you saying it's possible to harness this energy?" Judith tilted her head to the side.

"Of course it is! It may not be as potent as mana magic artes or blastia magic artes, but it's there, and it might be the deciding factor in some future conflict!" Rita pumped her arms excitedly. "If you can't fight fire with fire, you'd got to try bringing in a bucket of water!"

"Its' still in the early stages," Estelle continued. "But Rita's been making some amazing progress. She calls it the Methodism Theorem – drawing energy from the earth and wind, healing and defensive artes are possible without consuming any mana or aer!"

"That actually does sound useful," Judith commented, "Because you never know. Someday, people may find a way to abuse mana. Your special artes just might be the key in the future sometime."

Daylight once again was visible through the cracks in the treetops as the wind played its tune, refined through the leaves of the foliage. "A Spirit residing in a shrine – could there be anything more fitting?" Judith allowed her lungs to be filled with the fresh air that was absent in the shrine – while the excursion was fun, it was also a bit claustrophobic all things considered.

"If the Entelexeia were once revered as gods, it's quite possible that the Spirits may become that sort of thing as well in the future." Estelle pondered aloud, "I mean, humans may populate the planet, but the Spirits could easily wipe us out if they ever thought it necessary."

"No way, that'll never happen," Rita chimed in. "Nobody wants to be held accountable to anybody but themselves. Besides, even _if_ we started worshipping the Spirits as gods, we have nothing to offer them that _wouldn't_ make them want to smite us all. After all, an ant doesn't have any grudge against a magnifying glass and the sun."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Estelle lowered her head toward Rita, a bit confused.

"You've never seen anybody do that?" Rita shrugged – she shouldn't have been surprised.

"I didn't grow up with parents or friends, only the people in the castle," Estelle explained, sadly smiling.

"We're your friends, now," Judith leaned against a tree trunk as she listened. Not that her words did anything to change the past, but the present wasn't all that bad, was it? Their journey together as Brave Vesperia not only saved the world, but taught them that they could band together – as comrades, as friends. That did not change the past, but it made the present more bearable, at the very least.

"Listen to the loner, would you?" Rita continued, though her face was still as stern as ever with a hint of a blush. "Pitying yourself isn't a very attractive trait, Estelle."

Estelle nodded, before continuing. "I know that," she smiled. "I still have fond memories of my mother, though." Estelle clasped where the memento locket was underneath her top with her hand. "But what is it? When I have a child, I'd like to teach them all sorts of neat things, Rita!"

"Somehow I don't think entrusting you with a fire hazard is the wisest choice," Rita restrained herself from bursting out laughing.

"No more dangerous than your fire-elemental magic artes," Judith chuckled.

"That's an entirely different topic!" Rita snapped at Judith, before turning back to Estelle. "You're thinking of children already?" Rita's eyes narrowed, as if she wasn't expecting that topic to come up.

"If I win the succession to the throne, a marriage arrangement will take place simultaneously," Estelle finally answered, after standing in uninterrupted silence for a few moments. She gave a sad smile to her companions, resigned to her fate. "It's my responsibility as a woman, after all."

"… What the _Hell_ are you talking about?" Rita crossed her arms as she glared at Estelle.

"I'm inclined to agree," Judith softly added, taking a step toward Estelle. "Your smile isn't right when you say such things."

"Yeah, seriously," Rita's expression finally softened after a few seconds, being careful not to fall into old habits. "That shameless facsimile of a smile is just plain _painful_ to look at, Estelle – you're not happy. And you won't be if you go through with this."

"It's not so simple!" Estelle snapped back with enough force to make Rita take another step back. "I was raised for this, and now I have a genuine opportunity to change the Empire to be for the _people_!" Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Before our journey together, I was just a naïve princess to be used as a puppet for the council to use as they deemed fit. But our journey opened my eyes! People around the world under the Empire's rule have suffered due to corrupt captains and magistrates! If I become Empress, I have a _chance_ at changing everything! _I have no right to be selfish!_" She shouted the last part as the tears gathering onto her eyelids have finally begun to fall.

"Like you said, once she's made up her mind, it's made up." Judith turned around and began walking away as Rita stepped toward Estelle, pulling the princess into her arms. "I don't agree with your decision at all, Estelle, but I _will_ respect it. Just don't expect me to be there in the crowd watching you as you make this decision that will only end up in your misery."

Estelle looked at Judith's fading back between sobs – she knew her fate. The princess had her duties – the fact that she _could_ go on that journey all that time ago was a miracle in of itself, sneaking out to find Flynn. To ignore all of it wasn't an option anymore. Nobody could understand her and her position, nobody – even having the best friends in the world didn't mean that they would even begin to _comprehend_ the burden that she's had on her shoulders since birth.

"Man, she's harsh," Rita commented as she also saw Judith's back fade into the woods.


	5. Rough Landing, Holly

**Chapter Five : Rough Landing, Holly**

Judith sneezed.

"Hmm, are they talking about me already?" Wiping her nose with a handkerchief, the Krityan continued her stroll. She could feel Ba'ul's presence as she spoke to him in her mind, telling her about what had just happened.

He listened. He always listened. The thing with thoughts was that you didn't have to word anything carefully; it was just raw _emotion_ and _feeling_ that connected them, images without words that spewed together in their shared mind. That was what Judith liked – their connection didn't require words. With everyone else, she had to worry about how to word her phrases or arguments, and quite frankly, Judith wasn't that well educated. With Ba'ul, she knew she had a partner who understood everything she was feeling and thinking perfectly without her even having to worry about whether or not he would accept her.

If only connecting with other people was that easy.

Suddenly, in front of Judith, a solid metal sphere about the size of a large blastia core went rolling past her path. Well, what was unexpected was that it looked _very_ familiar with her – quickly turning her head as to where the ball came from, it was to be expected: a young Krityan girl, about ten years old, kicking a tree trunk in frustration.

Gathering the ball and walking toward the girl, Judith took a moment before approaching her to hold the ball in both hands. Closing her eyes, she used her antennae to concentrate on what was in her hands – an image clearly appeared. Opening her eyes, she finally finished walking towards the girl with a smile, with her arms outstretched with her property. "I think you dropped this," she began.

"Stupid thing doesn't even dent," the girl pouted, taking it reluctantly from Judith's hands. "What I want to know is who thought up such a dumb test, anyway?! I'd like to give them a piece of my mind!"

"I'd like to know that myself," Judith chuckled, stand up and leaning back as she stretched. "I couldn't do it either until I was a little around your age, actually. It's frustrating when others two years younger than you have moved on so quickly with the exercises, isn't it?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Really? You know the feeling?"

Judith nodded, taking a seat besides the girl. "Everybody else makes it seem so easy, moving ahead and on. At the time, I was wondering if there was anything wrong with me, to be honest." Judith turned to the younger Krityan. "My name is Judith – what's yours?"

"Christina," she replied. "A lot of my friends call me Chrissy, though."

"Two men are particularly fond of calling me Judy, too," Judith said with a wistful smile.

Finally the pouting face that Christina held together for so long softened.

"There we go," Judith chuckled, "a smile looks a lot better on your face than what was there before."

"So, are you part of the Circle, too?"

Judith shook her head before staring off into the distance. "I was, once, but that's a part of my life that has passed."

"What?!" Christina's jaw hung agape. "Why would you even _do_ that after working so hard to become part of it? It's such a huge honor to be considered one with the Circle!"

Judith slowly turned her head back towards the younger woman; she could only remember feeling the exact same thing at that girl's age. The Circle was considered sacred, as _only_ the Kritya could join it with their special gift. It was a cloud of consciousness that all Kritya in the Circle were connected to, as for all intents and purposes they shared one heart, several bodies. It was an experience unlike any other. The collective unconscious of the Circle – it was a force to be reckoned with, as it united those inside of it as one being. She allowed a small smile to express itself over her lips as the gentle wind of the valley they were in caressed their skin. "It is, isn't it?"

Christina just stared at Judith for a few seconds before turning back to the valley, and then staring at the metal ball she was clutching between her hands. "Why do others make it seem so easy?" Her voice lowered, "It shouldn't be this hard, right? You do the right thing, and you're rewarded. Haven't people suffered enough?"

"It's a difficult question to answer," Judith responded, leaning back and enjoying the scent of the trees. "You can do every single thing right in your life, but it doesn't guarantee you'll end up where you want to be."

"Is that what happened to you?" Christina focused so hard on the ball, but _nothing_ was appearing. It was so frustrating! She did all the mental exercises. She attended all the lessons. Yet still, no matter how hard she stared at this stupid ball, not one damn thing made itself known. They had to be playing a trick on her, they _had_ to be! "I guess being an adult is a lot easier than being a kid, huh?"

"Not necessarily," Judith said in return. "There are some problems children have that adults don't, and some problems adults have that children don't. Everybody has their own struggles, whether they be human or Krityan, adult or child, soldier or civilian, of the Empire or of the Guilds, man or woman." Judith sighed, thinking about all of her friends and the people they met on their journeys. "So, how did you get out?"

"Yeah, getting out of Myorzo was no easy task," Christina sighed. "I heard stories of a lone Krityan warrior who left Myorzo without even having to have Krones land! She had adventures all around Terca Lumireis and some rumors even say she helped save the world!"

"You know what they say about rumors," Judith chuckled. It was true – leaving the airborne city was no small feat, and she only had the fortune of being able to do so because she had Ba'ul with her. "I still have my bell if you want to return there."

"No!" Christina retorted, "I'm not going back until I master the thing!" At the same time, she just lay the ball down in front of her at her feet. "They're never going to accept me unless I can see whatever image is conjured into this thing, anyway! I hate the way they're always looking at me, like they pity me or something! Just because I can't use my antennae they think I'm not as good as them!"

"No, they just smile no matter what the situation is." Judith commented, recalling her own experiences at Mt. Temza. She then leaned her head against her knees as she looked at Christina. "All emotions are filtered out – if you become angry, it dissipates into the Circle. If you're sad, the Circle takes it and soothes your soul. Most of all, they share their calm – together, forever."

Christina stared at the ball some more. "You make it sound so sad."

"It wasn't my intention," Judith said. "Why not stay with me, then? The trip couldn't have been easy, and I have a few other wayward children staying. I'm certain we can put together a bed for you – and you can leave whenever you'd like."

"I think I'd like that," Christina immediately responded without hesitation. "I guess this makes me your junior, huh?"

"Perhaps you should be referring to me as Senior Judith," Judith laughed. "Did you fall out of the sky?"

"No," Christina shook her head, "Krones is low enough where I was able to take a boat and ended up at Aurnion's port – from there I just kept on walking until I ended up here, and met you."

"Krones is low," Judith repeated, as if processing that information. The day would soon come.

The day when Myorzo was to be finally land-bound and Krones became a Spirit.

-.-.-

"It's a lot livelier than I'm used to it being," Judith commented, as the pair of Krityan women walked in the center of the town square. "I suppose this is what's to be expected when the Guilds and the Empire decide to have their meetings." She hadn't actually stuck around much _when_ such events occurred – crowded places were never something that Judith was overly fond of. Estelle and Rita must have already made their way back to present their findings and research to compare and contrast with what Heimdall's Horn had come up with. While not one of the Five Master Guilds, their prominence was already practically a household name.

"Hey, Judy!" Judith's presence didn't go unnoticed as a familiar man's voice cheerily rung through the clamor – turning her head toward the man she put on her best smile for Raven. "It's been a while since we've seen you, darling."

"It has, and you look very young." Judith teased, "You simply _must_ share your anti-aging secrets with me."

"Ouch, that's below the belt!" Raven chuckled, but if you looked closely enough, you could tell there was a pang of _something_ else going on in there. Recovering as if nothing had happened, he stuck his thumbs into his belt as he leaned his shoulders back, situating himself into a more relaxed stance as he walked up toward the two Kritya.

Behind the old man was the blonde heir of Altosk, Harry Whitehorse – as ever, the scion was silent as he avoided making eye contact with either of Raven's acquaintances. Raven couldn't help but grin as he asked, "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Christina!" The young Krityan chirped happily, raising her hand as if answering role call. "I just ran into my upperclassman, so I'm _very_ happy!" She beamed, grabbing Judith's arm affectionately. "She's going to teach me all sorts of secret techniques that I'm going to use to be absolutely _amazing_!"

"I don't quite recall agreeing to those terms," Judith commented, neither discouraging her or otherwise. Turning back to Raven, Judith stole a quick glance to his companion. "Hello there, Harry." She gave a friendly smile, though he still refused to make eye contact.

"Hey," he simply responded without shifting any part of his being.

"Don't mind the boy, he's just shy!" Raven chuckled, elbowing the kid a little without getting any reaction. "Hey, you're out of Dahngrest, kid – liven it up a little! Why not go exploring with the pretty little girl?" He waved at Christina, "It might be fun!"

"It's my first time here, too, so I don't mind taking a look around!" Christina happily agreed, walking toward Harry. "Come on, let's get to it!" Turning back to Judith as she grabbed Harry's arm, Christina beamed. "Senior, where should I meet up with you later?"

"The building with a spear over its front door," Judith answered, "it's marked 'Dunamis' – you can't miss it."

"A spear?" Raven lifted an eyebrow. "Did you happen to throw a temper tantrum at the building you're staying at?"

"If you don't watch what you say, I just may be throwing a temper tantrum directed at _your face_," Judith calmly stated as she waved goodbye to the younger pair making their way deeper into the settlement. "The spear prevents a cold draft at night – while I can't complain about the general craftsmanship of the place we're staying at, it was easier to just plug the hole with one of my old spears than anything else."

"You don't say?" Raven grinned, "That's so _you_. The straightest path is sometimes through the thick of the mud, after all."

"Is that so?" Judith finally allowed a small, genuine smile to come out after nothing but several seconds of annoyance prior. "The ladies could never stay mad at you for too long, could they?"

Raven rubbed the back of his neck, just laughing – there was an almost sheepish quality to him if you ignored the lewd-old-man act. "I got my hands full with other things these days, darling."

"Your hands are full with things such as the lad who was behind you shortly ago?" Judith leaned to the side, attempting to catch a glimpse of the pair that left before returning her attention to the old man. "I was under the impression that it'd be harder to get you away from him than this."

"I made a promise – straight and simple," Raven nodded sagely, as if that answer would sate Judith's curiosity, lowering his head.

"Just what _is_ the story between you two?" Judith stepped forward as she looked up at Raven from leaning down and to his side. "You don't keep promises like that for this long without a good reason."

"That's a story for someone else to tell," he let out a laugh as his pearly whites shown through despite his shady demeanor.

"I just don't get the things that come out of your mouth sometimes," Judith playfully sighed. It was easy having a conversation with Raven – they both flirted, they both snapped occasionally, and they both knew that things went deeper than what was said on the surface.

But it wasn't a connection.

Not a deep one, anyway.

"Actually, something big just happened," Raven's face turned just the slightest bit more solemn. "Someone from Myorzo's here with the Elder – they've been talking about the plan to turn Krones into a Spirit and land the city."

"That's hardly news," Judith commented, straightening her posture as she leaned her head to the side. "It was inevitable; with the aer shortage, Krones couldn't keep afloat forever. If the Kritya want to stay secluded, they either need to find an isolated place where nobody will find them or develop a way to use mana to keep them afloat. Neither is an easy task, though the former is within the current realm of plausibility."

"Yuzorea," Raven answered, "And given the princess' penchant for naming Spirits, neither the Guilds nor the Kritya are too fond of her request to be able to name Krones."

Judith stared at Raven for a second, as if to make certain whether or not he was joking. "That's awfully forward of her," she finally commented.

"Yeah, but when Yuri heard the news, he just smirked, as if that's what he was expecting all along!" Raven sighed, stretching his neck. "But apparently we shouldn't have been surprised – when she's made up her mind to do something, she'll see it through to the end. Our journey should have taught us that, darling."

Their journey: it was always spoken of in past tense now – it was to be expected, of course, but it was a truth Judith didn't really want to face. The adventure of a lifetime, one that only a handful of people every few generations would have the pleasure of experiencing. It was definitely a wonderful pack of memories that she held dear, but to think that only a year had past, the distance between all of them had grown so much. Casting her gaze to the ground, Judith wasn't sure how she felt about that. Rita and Estelle seemed nearly inseparable, nothing having changed between them since the year past. Yuri and Karol were busy as always, making all of Karol's dreams come true – as well as the weight of the responsibility placed upon them by Don Whitehorse. Raven may have kept people at a distance, but he was hardly ever lonely, it seemed.

Judith's solitude was something that she had placed onto herself.

She knew that, but it wasn't something she would ever admit.

"You're right," Judith responded as she returned her gaze to make eye contact with her former comrade. "Estelle's a strong woman with equally strong convictions – your sources probably already told you about her potential upcoming arranged marriage."

"Yeah, the guy's a textbook jerk," Raven sighed, feeling sorry for the poor girl. "He did absolutely _nothing_ during the entire ordeal with Alexei and then the Adephagos – he just has a lot of money. And a council position, but he's been buying his favor with the other council members to make a big push that he's the right one to marry the princess should she ascend to the throne. What was his name? Garrett?"

"That seems like an awfully boring back story," Judith chuckled. "I was expecting a few more layers of drama – Estelle deserves only the best, after all."

"After the stuff we've been through, the boring stuff seems like a slice of heaven if you ask me." Raven did a quick back flip after finishing his stretching. "But hey, it's ultimately up to her, right? Sure, you can blame the circumstances, but how you handle the things that are thrown at you is basically how you decide whether you end up with regrets or not."

"You of all people are well-versed in that, aren't you?" Judith leaned to the side, taking in the old man's words.

"I have no right getting all preachy on you kids," Raven continued, "but like I said before, my life isn't mine anymore. But at least now I don't have any regrets after all is said and done, and I don't plan on having any more regrets with anything new in the future. Is it so horrible that I don't want to see your beautiful face stained with sadness, Judy?"

Judith couldn't help but let a small smile escape her expression. "I know I've always told you that you'd be burnt to a crisp, but you _do_ have a way with words," she finally answered, after thinking about his statement for a few seconds. "I just need some time and space to figure things out."

"Don't wait until too long," Raven glanced down. "On your deathbed, it's the things you _don't_ do that you regret more than the things that you did."

"I'll keep that in mind," Judith nudged the old man's shoulder.


	6. Insomnia

**Chapter Six : Insomnia**

"What's the point of having a ball that doesn't even bounce?" Tristan asked, rolling the giant metal sphere between his feet on the wooden floor.

"It's not a toy!" Christina snatched it away from him, obviously irritated. "If you want a ball that bounces you have several more in the corner!"

"But that's the one _you_ brought," Tristan pointed out, "I'm just curious. I've never met a Krityan before – are those really the kinds of toys they give you to play with?"

"I told you, it's not a toy!" Christina snapped, storming off upstairs to her new room. "Are all surface dwellers this irritating?!" That phrase was followed by the slamming of her door.

"Geez, I only asked her a question," Tristan scratched his head.

"Oh, don't mind her," Judith let out a light laugh as she observed from her vantage point in the kitchen. "She's just in a hurry to become an adult." Judith knew the feeling all too well – it brought her back to those days in Mount Temza when she was just as equally frustrated, though she didn't express it in _quite_ the same manner as Christina.

"I can't wait until I grow up, either," Tristan sighed, sitting on the floor. The other kids had mostly gone to sleep – the moon shone bright over Aurnion, and the children were tired after being told a story. Judith usually took story time as an opportunity to regale them with her memories of Brave Vesperia's journeys, though it was also spoken of from a viewpoint that wasn't entirely obvious. It was a way to keep those stories alive, even if they didn't make the connection. "When I become old enough, I'm _definitely_ going to join the knights. I mean, just knowing they were fighting the Adephagos last year and saved the world is _amazing_!"

"They certainly are heroes," Judith winked at Flynn, who was sitting half-asleep on the other end of the table.

"Huh, what?" Flynn blinked a few times as he attempted to straighten his posture – it was getting late.

"Tristan, could you stay up for a while?" Judith asked the child, who eagerly began nodding to the affirmative before she even finished her question. "I'm going to walk the Commandant back to his chambers."

"That really isn't necessary, Miss Judith," Flynn yawned.

"It won't be long," Judith ignored Flynn, still turned to Tristan. "I just want someone watching the house while I take him home, all right?"

"Aye-aye!" Tristan beamed as Judith got out of her seat and helped Flynn up, helping support his weight. The trip wouldn't be a long one – the Commandant's quarters were right across the square.

The walk wasn't an eventful one, as Judith easily got Flynn to his bed – she never actually stepped foot into his house before, but it was so organized and neat that it was painfully obvious where everything was. Moving his tightly-packed covers to the side, Judith practically shoved the unarmored knight into his own bed as she reached over him to pull the sheets across his body.

"The most important item in one's beauty bag is a good night's sleep," Judith commented, playfully, taking a seat next to the half-asleep Commandant. Of course, _she_ was one to talk, but he was in no state to respond.

"Thanks for bringing me over," Flynn mumbled, closing his eyes.

"It's not an issue," Judith responded, crossing her legs and leaning back and little. "Your sleeping face is actually kind of adorable – it's like when I tuck the kids in at night." Lifting her hand, she gently stroked a stray hair from his face and to the side, leaning in. His soft breathing was a sure sign that the last part went unheard on his part, something that only made Judith chuckle. Her fingers gingerly moving from the side of his head, running down the side of his face and down to his shoulder, she gazed at him for a few moments. What was going on through his mind? What were the kinds of things he was dreaming about?

What is it that he found himself desiring?

Judith's mind wandered and she found herself wishing that somehow, she could make some sort of connection with this man. Their near-daily interactions were simple enough, but they didn't even _begin_ to scratch the surface. Yuri spoke of a few details of Flynn's past, but also warned that he was _fiercely_ protective of his memories as well.

Not that Judith was one to talk.

Memories that were precious – Judith had plenty of those, memories that she mostly shared with Ba'ul, and Ba'ul alone. Staring at Flynn's face intently, though, for a second she thought she caught a glimpse of someone important to her – hard working to a fault, who strove to help the people dearest to him. Leaning forward, Judith found her lips brushing against Flynn's forehead – after a moment's hesitation she finally pressed her lips against his after positioning herself so that their faces were level.

It lasted for only a second; pulling away, she stood up, wiping her lips. _No_, she told herself. _I think that only works for real families_, she thought, making certain to lock the door behind her.

Making her way to the center of the plaza, she took a familiar seat next to the obsolete blastia husk that was the town's centerpiece as she looked up at the full moon. It was an odd feeling, staying in one place for this long – she yearned for the freedom of traversing the world riding the wind, being enveloped in the sky. It was like an itch that couldn't be scratched, but she knew that even if Ba'ul was feeling well enough to take her for a trip, that just may deplete what little energy he had left – he'd effectively die.

There it was again, that pang of remorse and guilt that was eating away at her soul, resulting in loneliness.

This was how she spent most of her nights – usually she'd want to go on her long walks and spend time with Ba'ul, but she knew she couldn't. She had her responsibilities now, making certain that the children she had taken under her wing were safe. She never envisioned herself having kids, much less so many at once, so it was an experience she wasn't quite sure what to make of. However, during her last visit with Ba'ul when she told him of her activities, he gave a happy moan – it made the days go by quicker, at the very least.

"I thought I'd find you here," Judith turned to see Tristan at her side.

"You're a naughty boy, staying up past your bed time," Judith teased, pinching his cheek. "Didn't I ask you to keep an eye on the others while I was gone?"

"Relax, the building's right over there," Tristan pointed as he reassured his impromptu guardian. "If anything happens we'll see it right there. That and Repede's standing watch over the door."

"Sometimes just being able to see and not do anything about it is a nightmare," Judith hugged her knees, recalling her own memories of such a time. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you sleepy, Tristan."

"It's because I can't sleep," Tristan answered, wrapping the blanket he brought with him around his shoulder and Judith's. "I mean, I _do_ sleep, it's just that I lay there wide awake for hours before I finally drift off. That's how I know you stay up so late, too."

"What's your excuse?" Judith turned her head ever so slightly to see his face.

"Ever since that soldier came by my house and told me that my father died on the battlefield, I've had nothing but nightmares." Tristan explained, refusing to pull his gaze away from the ground. "If I stay awake, that's less time from dreaming nightmares and waking up screaming."

"What about your mother?" The Krityan asked, thankful for the blanket – it was chilly that night.

Tristan shook his head. "My mother died right after I was born. My father's second wife saw fit to throw me out once there was no reason to keep me around – after all, why leave the inheritance to me if they had children together?"

"My mother died in childbirth, too," Judith responded, after several seconds of silence. "My father never got over it – the only time I saw his eyes sparkle was when he was talking about my mother during her pregnancy. Sometimes I wished that I could help him get over that loss by being a sort of replacement, but that never happened. You can't replace the part of someone's heart they lose to another person – that's just the way life is."

"Why did Father marry again, then?" Tristan pouted.

"I don't know the answer to that," Judith sighed, brushing Tristan's hair with her fingers. "At some point, you just need to stop looking for answers – the moment you run out of answers, you just might run out of hope."

"I wish I met you earlier, Judith." Tristan allowed his head to fall onto Judith's shoulder. It wasn't long until he began to doze off, as his head lay limp.

"No man is an island, are they?" Judith silently commented, as she made certain not to disturb Tristan's slumber as she wrapped the blanket around him, and hoisted him into her arms. Carrying him back to the home, she couldn't help but stare at the spear lodged into the building. This was home now, apparently. If she were to accept it as such, changes would have to be made on her part. Tearing her eyes away from the spear, she made her way inside, holding the door for Repede to come inside.


	7. Just a Feeling

**Chapter Seven : Just a Feeling**

Two weeks passed.

The orphanage had a nice, spacious backyard that the children used to run around and play, and when needed Judith also had poles and cables used to hang laundry to dry. Again, it was an activity she never thought that she'd be doing, much less for anybody else. It was more of out necessity since none of the children really had experience in laundering clothes, much less maintaining them. All the experience on the battlefield couldn't have prepared Judith for the fight she had against a button that refused to be placed correct in its spot on a shirt collar – the bandages around her fingertips were proof of that.

"Hey Judy!" _There_ was a voice she hadn't heard in a while – turning around after hanging a shirt on the rack Judith saw the all-too familiar sight of Yuri Lowell, the second-in-command of the guild Brave Vesperia.

"To what do I owe the honor of your visit, Yuri?" Judith smiled, approaching the fence. Next to him was the shorter, albeit taller-than-before, figure of Karol the leader giving her a peace sign with his hand. "I'd say it's been over a month since we last saw each other," she continued.

"Well, you haven't been showing up to the guild meetings, so we decided to bring one to you!" Karol's smile was bright as ever – the young man grew at least two inches over the past year. "Don't think that we forgot about you. When we heard from Raven that you were living here, we took the first boat out!"

"What he said," Yuri affirmed, a lot calmer in contrast to his companion. "It's been a while since I gave a visit to Flynn or Repede, too, and I'll probably be taking Repede with me when we go."

"It's even more of a surprise to me than to anyone else, I can assure you," Judith responded, leaning against the fence, which was about elbow-high. "I'm happy to have visitors, though. How _have_ things been with the guild?"

"New faces every day," Yuri said. "I'm just glad I'm not the one in charge of keeping up the roster. Oh, by the way, before I forget…" Yuri lifted a canvas bag and handed it to Judith. "A gift from Rita and Estelle to you."

Taking the bag into her hands, it was rather large – it was about the size of a large platter, and rather heavy at that. Taking the bag off, Judith was pleasantly surprised. "A mirror – they certainly know what a girl wants."

"It's not only a mirror!" Karol exclaimed, climbing onto a rock so he could also see what was going on. "They said they infused it with the Spirits' help and mana, so it's a _special mirror_! I wanted to call it the Super Awesome Ultra Mirror of Amazing, but then I got this bump on my head," he pointed to a lump on the side of his head behind his ear.

"That's certainly a mouthful," Judith teased. "Rita's aim is getting better, too. You need to work on dodging if you're getting taller, Karol." A mirror, the present that every girl wanted – Judith couldn't help but smile at the prospect of receiving a gift.

"Supposedly, using the energies of the Spirits allows you to use two mirrors to communicate with each other across long distances," Yuri continued. "They have a mirror, too; they want to try to test it out to see if you can witness when they turn Krones into a Spirit."

"So they finally came to an agreement on that," Judith mused aloud. She had heard rumors, but apparently it was to come to pass – Krones would be landing in Yuzorea and Myorzo would probably rebuild itself inside of the forests of the continent.

"The Four Elemental Spirits manifested and put an end to the argument," Karol explained. "Undine basically said that since Estelle's named all of the known Spirits so far, Krones wanted to be named by her, too, once he becomes one."

"It does have a certain ring to it, sticking with a theme." Judith chuckled, placing the mirror face-up between the three of them. "How do you work this thing?"

Before she could even finish her inquiry, the surface of the mirror shone brightly and the image rippled, as if a drop of water had landed in a pond. The images were blurry, but gradually became clear – Rita and Estelle were looking through the glass with wide eyes, before Rita screamed in celebration.

"Damn straight I'm a genius!" Rita exclaimed, pumping her fists. "It works, Estelle, it really works!"

"I know, Rita!" Estelle clasped her hands with Rita. "This is so great!"

"You're at Ehmead Hill," Judith noticed, taking the chance to see behind the two figures in the mirror and see their surroundings. Yuri and Karol both nodded – after a moment, they came to the same conclusion while Estelle and Rita were still expressing their exuberance over the fact that this device worked. _What were they doing at Ehmead Hill_, she wondered; after giving it some thought, Judith finally came to the only conclusion she could think of. Turning to Yuri, Judith smiled. "You told me stories of that time, when Estelle first saw the wide, vast ocean for herself."

"That and we found a grave stone nearby, too," Yuri nodded.

"We were on the way to the port, when we recalled that Elucifer's grave was here," Estelle continued, addressing the trio from the other side of the mirror. "Well, we couldn't find Duke, but we _did_ find something else!"

"Did Elucifer's apatheia return to his grave site in the form of a Spirit?" Yuri asked, blinking a few times.

"That's right," Rita confirmed. "It's a shame we couldn't find Duke, though. Hey, Yuri, if you ever come across him again, tell him to visit his friend's grave once in a while! He's missed, you know!"

"You speak as if I had _any_ control over that happening."

"You _do_ have a penchant for running into people," Judith laughed. "If anyone's bound to run into him again one day, it would be you – no contest."

"This is so cool!" Karol peered over the edge of the mirror. "So, what did you name it? The Slippery Hyper-dimensional Analytical Distorted Origami Weapon?"

"You haven't even seen it yet," Judith tilted her head.

"Actually, I named him _Shadow_," Estelle said. Tilting her head back as if recalling the memory, a smile lit up on her face. "_The total absence of light, yet the comfort of an embrace – the essence of which tells us that we are never alone_."

"We've _got_ to get you a book with new material in it sometime," Rita rolled her eyes – it was evident even through the glass. "Maybe this book called Fifty Shades of Xillia or something…"

"I'll be sure to tell him," Yuri assured her. "The guy's hard to find – we haven't caught a glimpse of him since we actually fought him."

"This thing's got like no mana left in it, so I'm cutting us off," Rita said, "I'll be sure to recharge it before Myorzo lands, all right? We're heading to the port and we'll probably reach Yuzorea within just under a week. Yours should automatically charge if you leave it alone."

"You got it; I'll be sure to tune in." Judith waved farewell as the image cut out, and they were left with an ordinary mirror. "That was fairly eventful," she chuckled, setting the mirror down on the ground against the fence. "In any case, what kind of guild business have you been up to?"

"Hey, Karol, didn't I see that cute girl from the Hunting Blades Guild over by the item shop on our way inside?" Yuri asked, scratching his head as he turned to the young leader.

"Oh, yeah, items!" Karol grinned, slowly stepping away as he patted down his messenger bag. "I need to replenish our stock! I mean, this bag doesn't fill itself, you know!"

"Glad I can count on our leader to take care of it," Yuri winked, as Karol trotted off. Turning back to Judith, Yuri's face turned serious.

"That was efficient," Judith commented.

"Rita told us about Ba'ul," Yuri cut to the chase. "How are you holding up?"

Out of everybody in Brave Vesperia, Yuri was the one who was closest to understanding the first thing about Judith – after all, when they first met face to face in the Tower of Ghasfarost, they knew what to do with the minimum exchange of words. There was no point in lying to him – Yuri of all people knew his proper boundaries. Lowering her gaze, Judith shook her head. "It's not easy, I'll give you that much."

"You let me know if there's anything I can do for you, all right?" Yuri placed his hand on Judith's shoulder. Judith looked at it, and then made eye contact with him – she appreciated the sentiment, but the distance between them had grown. She had nobody but herself to blame for it, given that she was the one who chose to distance herself from Brave Vesperia. "What I _can_ tell you is that Flynn can't shut up about you."

"If you don't watch what you say, I just may take you seriously," Judith turned her head slightly, though her eyes were still locked with Yuri's. "He's the Imperial Commandant who happens to help me run this orphanage, an orphanage I have _no idea_ how I even started. He's most likely to be married off to some high society piece of arm-candy and retire with a lot of money."

"Is that jealousy I hear in your tone?" Yuri removed his hand from Judith's shoulder, placing it on his hip as his eyebrows raised. "If there's anything we know about him, he wouldn't retire unless someone forced him to, kicking and screaming – he's finally changing the Empire from within. _Nobody's_ gonna make him give that dream up so easily."

"He's been balancing his work with the orphanage fairly well," Judith said. "He's here practically every night and during his days off. I have no complaints." Okay, that was a lie – Judith wanted something more. She was just never able to put it into words – that, and she didn't feel that she had any right to be selfish. Maintaining eye contact, however, she could tell that Yuri knew she was lying. It was a horrible feeling – even when she connected with Ba'ul through her thoughts, she never felt this shameful. _This_ was why she hated being around people to begin with and preferred Ba'ul's company. However, now, she just wasn't sure what she could do about the entire situation.

"He's pretty thick," Yuri continued on, as if Judith hadn't said a thing. "If you want something from him, you'll need to do more than just look at him. It's not that he doesn't like you, it's just that he doesn't like to make a move unless he's absolutely certain something is going to happen – rejection is hard, you know."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were telling me to seduce him." Judith crossed her arms, shifting her weight to her other leg.

"Maybe I am. I know enough that you'll need more than a secret kiss in the middle of the night to make anything happen," Yuri smirked.

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about," Judith's eyebrow raised. Most likely Flynn wasn't completely asleep when that happened; she didn't think of him to be the type to kiss and tell.

"I didn't either until right now," Yuri winked. "It's written all over your face, and knowing Flynn, he has nothing against you. You'd be all right if you were your usual straightforward self and said what you wanted."

Have her facial expressions gotten so easy to read lately? She wasn't certain, given that she couldn't see them, but now that she had a mirror, she'd be silently obsessing over it when she had the chance. But Yuri was right – rejection was one of the hardest things to get over. The scars from her last one still felt fresh as the day they were inflicted.

"Raven said that you seemed on edge," Yuri continued, "I can now see why; there's a lot's going on."

Judith sighed – she _knew_ that the spear-in-the-face comment would come back to bite her. "It's hard to put into words."

"Well, we already had more than our fair share of talkers during our journey," Yuri laughed. "Might as well hang back when it came to words, balance it out, right?"

"How _did_ you ever handle babysitting so many different personalities?" Judith lightly smiled, leaning forward onto the fence. "We would have all fallen apart if it weren't for you holding us together." It was a quality that she noticed in Flynn as well – in his position he had to be a politician. Judith wasn't certain how well she'd get along with Sodia or Witcher or the countless other personalities Flynn had to deal with on a daily basis, including the ones at the orphanage.

"That's simple," Yuri's smile never left his face. "You're all my friends."

-.-.-

_Was it really that easy?_

Judith tied the apron made of spare rags that the children had made for her behind her waist, so that it fit snug. She had been asking herself that question several times for the past few days since Yuri's visit. Surprisingly enough, Repede opted to stay here in Aurnion rather than return to Dahngrest – it was difficult to get into the dog's mind, but Judith was happy for the company, anyway. Repede was basically the third guardian over these children, keeping an eye on them when Judith and Flynn couldn't.

The meal she had in mind to prepare was easy enough: mabo curry. Cooking was fairly simple enough – you gathered ingredients, put them together and something edible came out. If only all things in life were that simple; glancing to the side, she saw the Commandant sitting at the table, leaning against his arm, watching her. "Is there something on my face?" Judith asked, the tempo of the knife chopping the vegetables never missing a beat.

"I didn't realize that you hummed when you cooked," Flynn noted. "I bet you have an amazing singing voice; you just seem very happy when you cook these days. The first few days the kids were afraid of approaching you when you were cooking because you had this really intense look on your face."

"I hadn't realized," Judith finished with the vegetables and lay the knife aside, turning toward Flynn as she leaned against the counter. From her vantage point she could also see the mirror she had hung up in the room to Flynn's side. "You always seem like you're in a perpetual good mood – don't you ever get tired, Flynn?"

"Of course I do," he answered, closing his eyes as he couldn't help but smile as the smell of breakfast being cooked filled his nostrils, taking him to an entirely different land. "But when I'm here, this is where I can be myself. Here, I can rest. You and the kids are practically my family."

"Practically," Judith repeated softly, as if the word stung – it must have been visible on her face as she cast her gaze toward the hardwood floor, because Flynn stood up and walked over to her. "Speaking of families, Estelle's most likely going to be starting one soon." As Flynn finally approached, she couldn't look him in the eye – he grabbed the cutting board and used the knife to guide the chopped vegetables into the pot. The night before town gossip had told her that it was official – after the naming ceremony for Krones, Estelle was to be shipped immediately back to Zaphias to take the throne.

"It's the word, yes," Flynn acknowledged, placing the knife back by Judith's side, joining her in leaning against the counter. The kids were either still asleep or already outside playing. "Judith, there's something I have to tell you," he whispered, as if the words had trouble making it past his lips. "It's something very difficult."

"Why should it be so difficult?" Judith turned to face him, her eyes staring at his chin – she deliberately avoided his eyes. Fear immediately grasped her own breath, as she found herself short of it; pursing her lips, she forced herself to inhale as she awaited whatever it was that Flynn wanted to say.

"It's difficult because I've never done anything like this before," he answered, his tone still soft. Reaching underneath the kitchen cabinet, he pulled out a bag decorated ornately with bows and ribbons. Handing it to her, his smile never left his mouth – Judith caught a glimpse of his cheeks before taking the bag into her own hands, noticing they turned a tint of red. "This is for you."

Her heart beating, she was unsure how to respond. Finally tearing her eyes away from the bag handles and back to Flynn's gaze, she didn't even realize that her lips formed a smile. "First a mirror, and now another present; I've been very fortunate lately. Dare I ask what the occasion is?" Her breathing finally normalized, and her heartbeat settled down – so that was it. A gift was always appreciated.

"It's a simple way of saying 'thanks' for something, I'm told." Flynn turned around and took a glance at the vegetables in the boiling pot, making certain that nothing would be burnt or overcooked. "I'm surprised you haven't received more gifts before."

"My idea of a gift isn't in the form of goods," Judith replied, her free hand lifted to gently stroke Flynn's arm. "There are other ways to say how you feel, Flynn – why should we be locked down to any one method?"

"Yuri told me that you'd put up a fight," Flynn chuckled as he used a spatula to stir the pot. "Go ahead and open it – I promise it's not alive or anything that crawls."

Pulling her hand away, Judith lifted the bag with both of her hands onto the counter and opened it; within was a gorgeous backless dress, glimmering in the morning light that spilled through the orphanage's windows. It had slits in all the right places, and a box at the bottom of the bag held two long dress gloves to go with it – on the hanger of the dress was also a radiant platinum choker with a jeweled pendant. Her breath taken away once more, the first thing that came to Judith's mind that it must have cost a small fortune. Glaring at Flynn, she pursed her lips. "The money could have gone to better use, Flynn. This is worse than something crawling."

"You're welcome," Flynn responded, continuing to stir the pot. "You _do_ know that 'thank you' is the usual response to receiving a gift, right? I'll cut you some slack given that it's still one of your first times."

Putting the dress back in the bag, Judith laid the bag on the floor next to the counter, glaring at Flynn. "It's highly impractical," she continued, "For one I have nowhere to wear it to. Not only that, the gald that went to buying this could have easily been used for the kids."

"The kids helped pick it out," the Commandant responded. "A traveling merchant was attacked outside of the settlement a few days ago, and my squad saved him. He gave me this set as a gesture of thanks, and everyone thought it would look good on you. We can go and get it tailored for you later, if you'd like. I don't know if it'll even fit."

"That's awfully convenient," Judith sighed, resuming her stance in leaning against the counter.

"That and you can wear it accompanying me to a ball at the capital once the princess is crowned Empress."

"I'm not particularly fond of parties," Judith turned and faced the dining room. "While I do respect Estelle's choices, I do not necessarily agree with them. Why would I choose to show up and support a decision that she made which I don't agree with? It would be one thing if she was in love, but apparently she doesn't have that luxury."

Turning off the stove, Flynn stared at it for a few seconds before turning to the Krityan. "Are you in love, Miss Judith?"

"That came out of nowhere," Judith stared at him after blinking a few times.

"Something like 'love' isn't a luxury that can be afforded by certain people in certain positions," Flynn said. "Even then, sometimes someone can be so guarded that they'd never let themselves fall in love."

"It's all politics," Judith commented, deciding to put herself to use and take out some plates and utensils to set the table with. "Opening yourself to someone else so completely and honestly almost never works out as well as the faerie tale romance novels that Estelle reads."

After several more moments of silence, Flynn took some pieces of thick cloth to bring the pot of food to the table. The kids began coming downstairs one by one, seated, and noise began to fill the household.

"One's missing," Judith commented, counting the children as they came down.

"Christina is still in her room," Presea commented, already eating her food.

"That's odd – she hadn't missed a meal before," Judith stared at the stairwell, half-expecting the other Krityan to come down at any second. When it became apparent that it wasn't to be, she glanced at the other children, all ready to eat. "You all go ahead and start, all right? I'll go upstairs and fetch her."

"I could do that, Judith." Flynn shook his head. "You already cooked breakfast."

"I'll take care of it," Judith put on her best smile. "Thank you," Judith whispered to Flynn as she passed by him on her way to the stairs to get Christina.

After Judith left the room, Flynn couldn't help but smile to the kids as they began eating with impunity. "She liked it," he announced.

The room lit up with cheers.

-.-.-

"Christina, are you awake?"

Several knocks went unheeded before Judith asked that question. Finally she opened the door – the younger Krityan was still wrapped up in her sheets, curled in the corner of her bed. Judith took a seat next to her, crossing her legs. It was obvious that the child was awake, as her eyes were wide open – they were swollen though.

Taking a glance about the room, Judith saw the metal sphere in the far corner.

"Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."

"I'm not hungry."

Judith sighed. "You're a little early to be worrying about your figure, Christina."

"You know that's not what this is about!" Christina reluctantly sat up, still covered in her light pink sheets. "I'm never going to be able to go back to Myorzo! It's just not fair!"

"Is it really that important?" Judith turned her body so that the two women were facing one another. "You can hear them downstairs – this is a nice place to live. What's tying you to Myorzo, Christina?"

Christina wasn't able to give an answer. After several seconds of silence, Christina sighed, frustrated. "I thought a change of scenery would do me some good, but it's not! I still can't see the stupid image in that stupid ball! All I want to do is join the Circle!"

Judith began to pet Christina's hair, attempting to comfort her. It wasn't as if she didn't know how she felt – growing up in a society run by the Kritya, they were always talking about the Circle, and what an honor it was to grow up and join into it. "All that rage, anger, and sorrow you feel – you wouldn't be feeling it if you were in the Circle – that much is true," Judith finally responded. "You'd feel nothing but an everlasting peace – no anger and no frustration; just a long, eternal serenity."

"I'm just so tired of being angry," Christina uttered between sobs, using the sheet to dry away her tears. "I don't want to feel anything! I just want it all to go away!"

Judith's eyes softened at the thought of this young girl who spoke such sad words. After several more moments of silence, the older one sighed in resignation. "Here's a deal – if you eat breakfast, I'll tell you my secret: how I finally activated my antennae so that I could join the Circle."

"That's like admitting defeat," Christina quickly replied. "Even if you're my Senior, I have my pride!"

"It's not about pride," Judith reprimanded Christina, her voice taking on a stern tone. "It's about admitting your weaknesses, and working to improve them. As you are now, you're only hurting yourself – the tighter you grasp onto this ideal of joining the Circle, the more it's going to slip away from you."

"Why did you leave the Circle?" Christina finally asked.

"Because the feelings I have are mine, and they're mine alone."

After a few more seconds of thought, Christina nodded. "I agree – I'll eat breakfast, and you teach me whatever secret technique you came up with, all right?" Her eyes, while still swollen, now brimmed anew with a certain volition that was absent before.

Judith lightly nudged Christina's chin. "That look goes better on you than the tears," she smiled. "Now get ready."

-.-.-

"She's on her way down, after she freshens up." Judith took a seat as she inhaled the aroma of the food in front of her, satisfied with the result. Looking around, she couldn't help but give a warmth smile to all of the children around her as well as Flynn – was she getting used to this? There was a certain quality within this room that she had never felt before, and was unable to put into so many words – all she knew was that she couldn't help but smile.

"That's good to hear," Flynn responded, helping one of the children by scooping a serving of the stew into their bowl. "You seem to be in better spirits as well."

"There you go again," Judith sighed, "Always pointing out the obvious."

"Sometimes things unsaid need to be said," he retorted with a smirk.

"Words aren't the only way to express how you feel," she shot back.

"The way you two talk, you really should consider just taking a trip together." Tristan commented offhandedly.

Both Judith and Flynn turned to him, as the child turned away, whistling.

"What does that mean?" Presea asked. "Taking a trip doesn't seem like something they'd do – who'd take care of us?"

"That's what couples do," Anise explained, "They take trips together. Really expensive trips! I hear they're making a luxury cruise liner called the Princess Hilda that's made to defend itself against monsters at sea, but also made to enjoy the ocean! It sounds totally sweet!"

"I am _so_ confused," Kyle sighed, taking a bite out of the stew that Flynn helped to serve him.

"Children learn to gossip at _such_ a young age," Judith chuckled, taking a bite of her food as well. However, she turned around once she heard footsteps – Christina made her way down the stairs and took a seat.

"I think this is nice," Tristan smiled at the others. "It's like having a real family again."

"Don't lump me together with you," Christina served herself, her nose practically up in the air. "I already have a family back home! As soon as I master that blasted thing upstairs, I'm out of here!"

"If they give you a ball that doesn't bounce, no _wonder_ you're so angry," Tristan commented.

"What was that, you twerp?!" Christina slammed her fist against the tabletop.

"Stop," Flynn narrowed his eyes; both children were then rendered silent, eating the rest of their meal in silence. It was the same song and dance – both Flynn and Judith were concerned that Christina wasn't getting along with the other children, but there was little they could really do about it; they weren't her parents, but they weren't about to kick her out, either. Turning to Judith, Flynn gave a bit of a forced smile as he motioned to her to follow him to the kitchen.

Judith stood up, having finished her meal. "I hope I'm not in for any more surprises this morning." Walking over to the kitchen counter, Flynn followed her. Smiling, she thought that Flynn's forced smile was cute – it was the same when she shamelessly flirted with him, seeing a reaction she just couldn't get out of Yuri or Raven. What the kids said before was still stuck in her mind – she didn't know what to think of it, but it was a nice thought. This household was their home, a family. _That_ was the feeling of warmth she couldn't quite put her finger on before.

"There's something I need to tell you," Flynn explained.

"There you go again, stating the obvious." Judith didn't find herself necessarily minding at this point, though. "Why don't you just say it? It can't be any harder than the gift," she teased.

"It's not that simple," Flynn sighed, once again making eye contact with the floor. "This has to be one of the hardest things I've had to do."

"Says the person who took credit for saving the world," Judith added. "It's almost humbling to think that I'm in your presence. You're a hero – what could you possibly be afraid of doing?"

"I'm in the presence of someone who _actually_ saved the world, for one." Flynn forced a soft chuckle, considering the irony of the situation. "You're making this even harder than it already is."

Lightly brushing his arm with her fingers, Judith couldn't help but laugh in turn. "Whatever it may be, we're a team in this," she nearly whispered. "It shouldn't be this difficult to communicate with each other."

"That might be exactly why," Flynn finally looked Judith in the eye.

Judith's hand stopped as she stared at him. "Flynn, what's going on?" The chatter of the children seemed to disappear in her mind for a moment, as it suddenly struck her that Flynn's tone seemed far more serious than she had initially guessed.

"The council is putting me up to be the Princess Estellise's fiancé," his voice cracked. "When she's crowned at the time she returns to Zaphias, they will make the official announcement."

Time seemed to stop entirely for the next several seconds as Judith registered what her ears received. Several thoughts were running through her mind – everything else after that was dead silence. The thought of Flynn no longer being here anymore, the thought that she'd be here alone with these children, the thought that there would be less time to visit Ba'ul during his final days, and seemingly hundreds of others crossed her mind in an instant.

She wanted to shut it all out.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she looked at Flynn again. He seemed as equally disappointed – or was that just what Judith had wanted to read from his regretful expression? After several seconds of silence, she finally found the courage to speak.

"Congratulations," she forced a whisper as her lips passed his ear on her way to the door. "Christina," she called to the table, "Let's go."

Christina happily got up and walked on over to the door. "About time; I finished my meal a long time ago. If I have to spend another minute around these surface dwellers, I'm going to go insane!"

"Now is not the time," Judith's eyes narrowed as she opened the door for the younger Krityan, her eyes passing by and making slight contact with Flynn's. "I promised Christina I'd take her to see something – we should be back shortly."

"Judith," Flynn said softly.

"There's nothing more to be said," the sultry Krityan interrupted him, her gaze as cold as ice. "We'll be back in a short while."


	8. Alone Again

**Chapter Eight : Alone Again**

The crisp morning air was a refreshing thing to inhale, as Judith and Christina made their walk outside of Aurnion. The seasons was gently changing from the hot summer days to the cooling of the autumn months, and the color of the flora abounded with soft earthen hues – there weren't many places on Terca Lumireis that shown such a variety in the seasons. In fact, most people didn't even realize there was such a thing as seasons, being holed up in only one city for their entire lives before the barrier blastia were lifted. It was yet another thing that was a secret to Judith that wasn't going to remain that way for much longer.

Judith was actually a bit surprised that Christina had nothing to say about the small episode between her and Flynn back at the orphanage, but then she realized that the younger Krityan had a lot of baggage of her own – why concern herself over the troubles of others when she had plenty of her own to worry about?

"Where are you taking me?" Christina asked. "Not that I don't trust you, it's just that being on the surface is far colder than I imagined."

"Is that really the tone you should be taking with your senior?" Judith playfully teased, having a bit of fun with Christina's impatience. "Besides, the surface isn't _so_ bad. A lot of Kritya have decided to become surface dwellers, after all."

"That's only because they're not in the Circle," Christina retorted silently.

"Actually, there was a Krityan settlement on Mt. Temza before the Great War," Judith explained, dismissing Christina's offensive tone. "They, too, were part of the Circle. It's where I grew up, actually."

"What happened to it…?" It seemed so foreign to Christina – a surface-dwelling Krityan settlement in a time before she was born? Did such a thing exist? Surface-dwellers were mostly humans, corrupted by their over-reliance on blastia and over-use of the things which caused the summoning of the Adephagos to begin with. The Elder taught her much about the dangers of the blastia, and it only made sense to her that the surface-dwellers were to blame for bringing about this catastrophe. After Judith didn't answer her question, Christina continued. "Surface-dwellers are at fault. They always were, and always will be."

"You may be right," Judith's expression softened a bit, unable to dispute what Christina was saying. After all, it was her father, Hermes, who created the Hermes-grade blastia that only served to hasten the advent of the Adephagos; if it weren't for his research, perhaps the calamity could have been avoided for several more generations.

At the same time, if it weren't for the Hermes-grade blastia, Judith would have never met her friends, either.

"Where _are_ we going, anyway?" Christina continued, somewhat oblivious to Judith's state of rumination. "Come to think of it, I haven't even _thought_ to venture outside of the village before."

"Well, that would be because the last city you were in, if you stepped outside you'd be caught in a nearly endless free fall." Judith turned back to glance at the younger one with a smile.

"Yeah, the thought of death is hard to shake off," Christina sighed. "At the very least we didn't have to worry about monsters up there."

"We're here," Judith looked up. There was a jagged and rocky cliff in front of them, and she sat down, looking downward. It was a different route than usual, because Judith didn't want the first thing Christina to see to be the giant underside of a massive Entelexeia. "Say hello to my partner," she motioned Christina to follow suit.

"Whoa, I was _not_ expecting this!" The young Krityan peered down at the grand sight of the Entelexeia, as the grand creature moaned a bit – it seemed happy. "So this is what an Entelexeia looks like aside from Krones," Christina nearly whispered, unsure as how to react. "Your partner, though? That sounds a little weird, no offense."

"None taken," Judith crossed her legs as she leaned back, admiring the sky. Being earth-bound wasn't _so_ bad, now that she thought about it. "As weird as it may be, it's the truth. He's been with me ever since the Great War – there is nobody who I trust more than Ba'ul."

"The Great War," Christina repeated. After a few moments, her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her. "You mean the time when Mount Temza was destroyed." She then realized she answered her own question. Judith's home was gone. The place where Judith and Ba'ul met was decimated – Christina cursed herself for not realizing it sooner.

Judith simply nodded as she leaned forward, her eyes filled with sadness as she laid her gaze upon the dying creature. "I left the Circle shortly after."

"With that much pain, what made you _leave_ the Circle?" Christina stared at Judith, attempting to comprehend just what was going through the woman's mind when she made such a decision. "After so much sadness, it just doesn't seem reasonable to make it all the more intense."

"It's really not that difficult," Judith looked at Christina, forcing a smile. "Sadness and happiness go hand in hand – even if I had something to celebrate, being part of the Circle meant that it would go away, too. The Circle is the ultimate empathy – every single emotion is drained into it, like a giant sponge that feeds off of the emotional energies linked to it."

"It seems to me that it's preferable to being miserable all night and day," Christina sighed, taking another look at Ba'ul. "But what's going on here?"

"Until I linked with Ba'ul, I couldn't even _use_ my antennae," Judith explained. "It's thanks to him I could even _begin_ to use my gift – until then, I felt useless, like I was some sort of outcast. But thanks to him, I realized that there were more important things than being in the Circle. It's thanks to Ba'ul and my father, really."

"I don't think you've mentioned much of your father to me before," Christina commented after a few seconds. "My parents are still up there in the sky – I'm not returning until I can make them proud."

Judith wasn't entirely certain how to respond. Given Christina's predisposition toward blaming surface-dwellers for what had happened, it would only make sense that she would be just as fiery if not more so if she found out about Judith's father. Out of all people he was the one responsible for the blastia which only harkened the end of the world even sooner. Using a finger to move a stray strand of hair away from the younger woman's face, Judith inhaled deeply. "I'm certain your parents are proud of you either way."

"That's a blatant lie," Christina moved her head away. "They were in the Circle – any pride or disappointment they would have felt would have been dissipated into the Circle, right? That's what you're thinking – don't look down on me!" Christina's frustration once again grew as she turned away.

Taken aback, Judith's eyebrows furrowed as she began to stand up. "If you're tired of feeling frustrated all of the time, then grow up. I came here to see if Ba'ul would at least give you a chance to awaken your antennae, but if you think of nobody but yourself, no _wonder_ you're all alone." Judith then began to make her way back down the cliff, never turning back. "Always feeling sorry for just yourself – I have no interest in babysitting little girls."

Christina peered down the trail to see Judith's back moving from sight, taken aback at the older Krityan's verbal admonishment. Nobody had ever said such words in that tone before to her, she realized as she bit her lower lip. Unable to maintain her fiery disposition, Christina settled down once more, hugging her knees to her chest, not knowing what to do. _Yet another place I can't return to_. The thought of that made her stomach tie itself into knots.

Staring at the magnificent creature below her, she began talking with him aloud, for lack of anything else to do in this situation. "Hey," she choked out, "Would it be okay if you helped me?"

Immediately, the giant behemoth began to stir violently and wildly, its body grating against the mountainside it was mantled against, rumbling the earth around it.

Attempting to stand or grab hold onto _something_, Christina lost her footing and began falling down the cliff. "Help me!" Her cries were overpowered by Ba'ul's turbulent moaning – immediately feeling nothing but pain as her body could only be tossed about the jagged edges of the cliff side like a rag doll on its way to the dump, each moment of impact bringing on an even more searing amount of pain as droplets of her own blood flashed before her eyes. Screaming in agony, Christina couldn't help but shed tears as she was about to be brought down to her death. Nothing but regret filled her heart.

"Ba'ul!" Judith exclaimed, hopping from ledge to ledge as she could – it was unusual for Ba'ul to be this upset. Attempting to link with Ba'ul's mind, Judith's head was filled with what felt like millions upon millions of thoughts and emotions, managing to distract her just for the tiniest bit. Anger, sadness, desperation, haughtiness, frustration, and indignation were only a handful of what Judith was able to rationally pick out from the pool of Ba'ul's emotions; a clear thought ran through her head as she noticed Christina's body falling from above: _I no longer want to be_.

"Calm down!" Judith screamed – she had to make a decision, and soon. After a second's hesitation, she cut off her link with Ba'ul so that she could concentrate; managing to catch Christina in midair with both of her arms, Judith carefully hopped down to the ground below them, rolling her body over the other's to make certain that Christina wouldn't be harmed any longer. The violent shaking stopped, and Ba'ul lay there, nearly lifeless; the shock of abruptly cutting off their mental link leaving him unwilling to fight any longer. "You fool," Judith softly said aloud – all that energy he spent could have cut what little time he had remaining by half, if not more.

Laying Christina down on the ground carefully, Judith inspected the young girl's body – it didn't look good. Several cuts and bruises were present, least of all the fact that she was unconscious – blood was evident as Judith searched through her small bag to see if she could at least temporarily treat the girl before hauling her back to the settlement. In the corner of her eye, she found a plank of wood; it suddenly dawned on her that with Ba'ul's tantrum, the Fiertia was mostly likely destroyed. The ship that Brave Vesperia spent countless hours in traversing the skies and sleepless nights was gone - biting her lower lip, Judith quickly went to scavenge whatever supplies she could find within the wreckage.

Everything was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

-.-.-

"He said that it's touch-and-go," Flynn's voice cracked as he shut the door behind the doctor. The orphanage was silent, as the children didn't know what to say, and Judith didn't know what exactly she was feeling. "She's had several bone fractures and her body is struggling to replace the blood that it lost."

"We've been taking healing artes for granted," Judith whispered. Without aer, the blastia didn't work, not that they worked without the cores that were all converted into Spirits. Estelle was the only person in the world who had the ability to use healing artes without the aid of blastia, and medical artes were still in relatively early development ever since the conversion to mana. Estelle was halfway across the world – all they could do was rely on their medical supplies and the fight Christina had left in her. At least, strong was the way she acted – the question was why did Ba'ul react the way he did? Judith only felt frustration and anger at not knowing what to do in this situation. She would have to make a point to return to Ba'ul, and soon; certainly he would explain himself on some level.

"This sort of thing isn't exclusive to Zaphias, apparently." Tristan finally spoke up, standing, his fists clenched – however, he did not grit his teeth, his expression rather calm. "I thought coming to this place, there wouldn't be this sort of thing anymore."

"No," Presea answered quietly, seated at the table with an expression that was difficult to read. "No matter where you go, people are going to be hurt."

"No amount of money in the world would change that," Anise commented, in the corner rubbing her arm.

"Ultimately, whether or not she survives is up to her." Judith finally stood up, making her way toward the door. "The will to live is a powerful force." Her hand on the door handle, she made eye contact with Flynn, who was in the way of the door's swing path. "I'm going out for a walk."

"It's not your fault," Flynn finally spoke softly, refusing to move after several seconds as Judith's glare pierced him to his very core.

"Why would I think it's my fault?" Judith asked, not amused and uncertain where Flynn was going with that line of thought.

"You're going to blame yourself," Flynn answered, never losing the lock their eye contact had between them – his eyes had a certain stern quality to them that rivaled Judith's. "Just because you took Christina out doesn't mean that you're responsible for her injuries."

Judith's eyes widened – Christina's death was a real consideration here. This girl who reminded her so much of herself at a certain age, and extending a hand to help her resulted in this tragedy. "Move aside, Flynn. _Now_." Judith made certain that she was heard – her words were as crisp and clear as the early evening air.

Flynn followed her command without any more words, finally casting his gaze to the floor. Looking up once more after a few seconds, as if to say something, the door had already shut with Judith's absence. Speechless, he slowly walked over to the dining table as he took a seat with the children.

"It's going to be all right," he finally managed to say. "The reason we all feel this way is because we share our sorrow. Our sorrow is proof that we're sharing our sadness, together."

-.-.-

"Ba'ul." Night had fallen, and the moon shone brightly when Judith finally made the round trip back to the Entelexeia. The grand creature was still and lifeless – the gentle rise and fall of its chest was proof that he was still alive, but barely. He elicited no response.

Taking her usual seat on a rock next to where his jaw formerly was, Ba'ul was now on his side – it was difficult to make eye contact with him, but perhaps it was better this way. He knew she was there, even though their psychic link was cut off. "I'm sorry," she said out loud. It had been a very long time since they last verbally spoke, over ten years prior. Ever since they initiated their mental connection, words were never needed between the two.

It was easy to take for granted, something she was just beginning to realize.

"I wish I knew what's going on inside of there," Judith patted his belly – he was bleeding from abrasions he had earlier that day from his flailing episode. Blood began to stain her glove, but she didn't mind. "You didn't have to connect with her, you know. Not the way you do with me. She was just like I was back then, Ba'ul, and I was just wondering if you could help her out. Why did you do this to yourself? For all I know, now you only have so many days left," her voice began to crack. "I miss you. Yes, I enjoy my days in town, but they're no replacement. Not for the connection that we had."

Closing her eyes, she concentrated.

But Ba'ul was rejecting her – no connection could be established.

She tried again and again. _Why?_ She could only wonder, as she desperately attempted to make that special connection they had once more, over and over again. Pounding her blood-stained fist against his belly, she held her other gloved hand to support herself to find that it was stained with her tears of frustration and sadness. "Why are you rejecting me?"

After all this time, why? She asked that question repeatedly in her head and out loud, screaming it as she begged Ba'ul to let her back inside. "Don't leave me all alone!" She screamed, clawing at his chest, burying her face into his soft fur. His body that was always full of warmth on a cold night was now getting cooler and cooler with each passing day.

"Dammit, Ba'ul, don't do this to me! _You're not allowed to do this to me!_" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

Her cries went unheeded.

The night went on, crying filling the empty and soulless mountain range.


	9. Glass Moon

**Chapter Nine : Glass Moon**

The next day, Judith somehow managed to find her way back to the orphanage, not that there was anywhere else to go. On her way back from Ba'ul she picked up several flowers – on the counter, she cut the stems accordingly and placed them in vases. It brightened up the room, yet when Judith looked at them it just felt like an empty gesture. She did what she could to force these feelings to make sense with what was going on around her, but there was no reconciling them; placing the vase on a table next to the mirror, she took a seat.

Rays of afternoon sun caused the shadows to loom ever closer as the herald of night made itself known - Judith sorted through her thoughts throughout the day, but without sleep, none of it was possible. Her wants, her needs, and her feelings were all ingredients in the turbulent stew of her heart, and she was unable to discern one aspect from the other as she could only stare at the wall in silence, waiting for someone or something to call out to her in order to make sense of everything.

Bringing her knee up and hugging it, she wondered why so much was changing around her. No, that was a silly question – change happened because it was necessary, because some things _aren't_ timeless and eternal. It was a fact of life that she had to accept; it didn't get any easier after being uprooted from her home torn apart by the Great War. But she, too, wasn't innocent – she chose of her own will to cut herself out of the Circle.

It was like tearing out a part of your soul with only a rusty spoon at your disposal.

The scars were still there, traces of the emotions and feelings that she had locked away for what felt like an eternity. Following in her father's footsteps regarding the Circle, she had no regrets. An outcast among both Kritya and humans, Judith held her head high with pride. It just felt a bit heavier than usual these days.

An abrupt bark snapped her out of her reverie, as she noticed that Repede had come in, dropped off a basket of groceries, and positioned himself to lay down on her feet, the dog's warmth offering what comfort it could.

"That's right; dinner needs to be prepared." Judith stroked Repede's fur as he stared at her with his good eye; picking up the basket with her free hand, she made her way to the kitchen counter and saw what Repede managed to buy. Bread, meat, and assorted fruit and vegetables were all present – it would be a fun dinner, to say the least. She could only imagine that the kids would have fun burning and designing faces on the slices of bread with a trick that Flynn taught them.

Before a tear could fall, Judith wiped her welled-up eyes and dabbed them with a towel prior to continuing.

This wasn't what she signed up for.

If something had to change, then she was going to be the one to determine the terms, not someone else.

Judith turned her head to see the door open, a bit surprised that it was Flynn. "That was a good game of tag!" He gasped for air, a grin plastered all over his face. The afternoon sun was in the midst of setting, and the sky was dyed a deep blood red. "I definitely need some water!"

"You children certainly worked up a sweat," Judith softly commented, turning her head to view the head count. There was Tristan first, Anise second, Presea third, and Kyle fourth; Christina was obviously upstairs. "Be certain to wash up before eating dinner, all right?"

A unanimous "Yes, ma'am" erupted the room as they kids ran upstairs.

Flynn, instead of leaving for his own house to clean up, took a stance next to Judith. "You haven't been yourself lately."

"You should get cleaned up, too." Judith continued washing the fruit and vegetables, laying them next to a cutting board. "Your sweat isn't something a lady likes to be around for too long."

"I'm being assigned to a mission," Flynn continued, ignoring her deflective statements. "After that a ship's taking me directly to Zaphias in time for Lady Estellise's coronation." His words were straightforward, but he lowered his head – if Judith bothered to even look at him, she wouldn't have missed the hesitation evident in his eyes as he made an effort to look at everything in the room except her eyes.

"So this is good-bye," Judith concluded, being unable to distract herself by doing anything with her hands. "You're going to most likely remain in Zaphias as the Empress' consort and husband as she rules the Empire, most likely delegating the responsibilities of the Commandant position to a new level of order above the Captains." The Council was crafty – Flynn had always fought for the people, and the easiest way to get rid of him was to keep him in the public eye as the Empress' betrothed and strip him of all responsibility, using their planted Captains to file falsified reports. All this to sate their lust for gald, and he was allowing himself to be used in such a way. It was disgusting.

"I want you to be protected," Flynn continued. "I'm going to make certain that the soldiers stationed here in Aurnion will take turns with the kids-"

"I refuse."

Flynn paused for a while, attempting to read Judith as he stared at her face - perhaps it was a bad joke that just wasn't hitting him. Finally making eye contact, he shook his head trying to laugh it off. "What do you mean, Judith?" Despite the limited space of the room, the distance between them felt like it grew several miles in that instant.

"I mean exactly what I said," Judith's icy tone made it quite apparent that she was not joking, combined with the obviously annoyed arc that her brow took on. "You're no longer part of this. This is farewell, Flynn." She made it quite obvious that she wouldn't be repeating herself. With her hand on the door handle, she turned it and motioned for him to leave. The crisp, cool air of the night rushed into the house, as cold as her voice.

Flynn grabbed her arm in a vain attempt to stop her. "It doesn't have to end this way! Judith!"

Judith wrestled her hand free, backhanding Flynn's face in the process, the resounding impact seemingly spread throughout the entire house, if not the entire settlement. Her ruby eyes could have pierced metal as for the first time in the orphanage, she growled. "Don't you dare show me half-assed kindness, Flynn!"

Flynn stared at her for a few moments, speechless, as the sting of the impact made its presence known against the cold chill of the wind hammering against his cheek. Resigned, Flynn walked through the entrance, the door shut firmly behind him as he could hear the click of the safety locks.

Fighting against the urge to cry, Judith found it lucky that she was out of tears. Looking down, she saw Repede looking up at her, whining – scratching behind his ears, she could tell that he was willing to stay by her side, as long as she needed; yet, to Judith at that very moment, no promises were eternal.

Collecting herself, Judith returned to the counter.

Dinner had to be made.


	10. A World to Believe In

**Chapter Ten : A World to Believe In**

Another day passed.

Christina's condition remained steady, but even with regular care she drifted in and out her coma, barely managing to take in water. Tristan and the other children made certain to see her every evening to tell her the things they did that day, or to tell her about the stories that Judith spoke to them about. None of the children asked what happened to Flynn; if Judith had to guess, she assumed that one of the children was listening to their fight atop the stairwell and told the others. If anything, she was thankful they had the sense to not question her about it.

Judith simply kept on going.

However, she was no longer humming.

The chores she did every day were mundane, a mere shadow of the adventures she had riding the wind only a few short years ago. She simply existed, forced smiles, and did what was expected of her: laundry, cooking, telling stories, but the mood around her was completely changed. The children knew this. If Flynn was still around, he would know this.

But Judith wasn't about to admit it to herself.

Wiping down the mirror, Judith took a seat as she stared into it – not too long after, the rippling effect once again occurred, with a glimpse of the Yuzorea continent quite visible. The image shook a bit as she could catch sight of the similar gloved hands of Rita angled the mirror just right, before Rita finally walked into position where Judith could speak with her face to face. "We're here!" Rita saluted, cheerful as ever.

"I'm glad I didn't miss it," Judith forced a smile. The room was empty save for her.

Moving to the side, Rita explained what was going on. Estelle was in sight, positioned near a clearing the Kritya have made so that when Krones landed, Myorzo wouldn't be sitting atop of several trees. Krones' underside was quite visible where the mirror was positioned. "This thing's fully charged, so you shouldn't be missing a thing!"

"I'll keep a close watch," Judith nodded.

"Are you okay, Judith?" Rita interrupted, her eyes narrowing in concern. "You don't seem like yourself today." It was a rare moment of sincerity from Rita that Judith hadn't witnessed much before; with Rita, what you saw was what you got, but this hint of a heart that ultimately cared for others was special.

"We can talk about it later," Judith insisted, "Right now we should be watching this. All eyes on Estelle, right?"

"Don't think I'm going to forget," Rita crossed her arms, resigned to Judith's temporary answer. Rita then took her place next to Estelle, gazing up at the giant Entelexeia.

"Thanks so much for going through all of this trouble, Rita," Estelle smiled down at her friend. "None of this would have been possible without your help."

"Stop thinking about that and focus on the business at hand, all right?" Rita winked at the princess.

All around the Kritya were gathered, as Myorzo was evacuated in preparation for the landing. Several of them cast curious glances at the forest around them, but none of them seemed particularly worried.

"Let's begin," Rita said. Closing her eyes, several formulas manifested in front of her, drawing its power from Estelle. Bright gold adorned the working, as Rita opened her eyes, focused on the task at hand – holding her arms outstretched, she began reciting spell commands causing the formulas to move about the working, resonating with Krones; the body of the grand creature began to display luminescence, positioning itself in the proper place so that when Myorzo fell, it would land in the grooves that the Kritya had prepared so that minimal damage would be sustained to their beloved city. "Now, Estelle!"

Placing herself on the other edge of the working, Estelle closed her eyes as her hands clasped together in front of her, as if in prayer. She began to float in midair, suspended from gravity - her hair emphasized her movements as invisible energy warped itself around her as the working grew ever brighter. From her chest, four bright lights in the colors of red, blue, green, and yellow sparkled about and attached themselves to the working, before the Four Elemental Spirits manifested, taking their place at four corners surrounding Krones. "It's too much," Estelle whispered, straining herself. "Krones' apatheia has absorbed so much aer over the ages, it's overwhelming!"

"Hang in there, Estelle!" Rita shouted over the violent hum of aer being converted to mana. Her eyes darting from corner to corner of the working to see what algorithms she could alter to ease the process, her fingers quickly moving pieces of the formulas from one end of the spectrum to the next, overwriting old commands as energy spilled out to the ground as a flash flood. "Dammit, I was _not_ expecting this!"

Judith stood, tensing up as she watched – she wished that she could have been right by their side.

Out of nowhere, a singing voice was heard – its effect calming those witnessing this phenomenon as the Kritya, Rita, Estelle, and Judith looked up to find the source of the song.

Undine's lips moved, synching with the spell commands being converted as energy from Krones was being directed to the working; workings then appeared in midair underneath the Four Elemental Spirits, as their voices resonated with Undine's, the colors of their mana signatures spiraling into the sky as a pyramid – Krones glowed as a bright white light, the aer conversion spilling over in a controlled manner as Estelle's feet landed onto the floor, the working piercing her torso.

"The Spirits," Rita looked on in amazement, halting her algorithm overrides for a moment. "They're helping Estelle! We can do this! It's possible!" Back to the working, Rita's eyes widened in amazement as the formulas began to shift and reallocate themselves as if of their own volition without her even touching them – it then grew to a massive size, engulfing Krones – the working grew large enough to overwhelm Krones in size as it absorbed the energy signatures from the Four Elemental Spirits, singing their song.

A bright flash of light engulfed the entire continent, making Judith and everyone else cover their eyes.

After several seconds of silence, everyone opened their eyes.

"We welcome you, Master." Undine and the other Spirits knelt and bowed respectfully to the new Spirit they gathered around. Even Rem and Shadow took their places among them, as the six spirits then began to line up in front of the Spirit formerly known as Krones.

Everyone stood agape as they witnessed this – in front of them was a Spirit in the shape of a muscular four-armed man with purple legs, crimson and jagged wing-like appendages on his back, and a different weapon in each of his four hands; his presence was unlike any other Spirit they had ever encountered, as he easily towered the other Spirits not only in size, but sheer power – the excess mana from the conversion ritual could still be felt by anyone in range on the continent. His expression stern, he nodded to each of the six spirits in front of him.

"Amazing," Estelle finally spoke, out of breath. "I had no idea that this would happen."

"With this much power, he could easily have been one of the oldest surviving Entelexeia in the world's history," Rita commented, taking her position by Estelle's side, unsure what to make of the situation. This thing was powerful, that much was clear. It was the first time she could definitively say that she encountered something _so_ powerful, she was just a little bit scared.

"Master," Efreet's voice shook the very ground as he spoke. "We welcome you to your new existence."

"I had no idea that Krones was your master," Estelle managed to say.

"Krones was an Entelexeia born before any of us," Sylph explained to the onlookers. "His apatheia dwarves any of ours in comparison, easily. His lifespan makes us look human by contrast."

"That explains why the concentration of aer was so difficult to manage," Rita sighed. "If it weren't for your help, the entire continent could have easily been wiped off of the map." Not to mention the ramifications if such a thing were to happen – without information, the Guilds or the Empire could have considered it a declaration of war as well. "I wasn't expecting it to be so difficult, but we made it!"

"Our Master needs a name," Rem turned her head to Estelle. Shadow nodded in turn.

"Oh, right!" Estelle nervously laughed. "It seems a bit overwhelming." She turned to the new Spirit, humbled by being in its grand presence. "It would do me a great honor to have the privilege of naming you."

The Spirit nodded.

"The Spirit of all things," Estelle tilted her head back with her eyes closed, her hands held tightly to her chest. "The Lord of All Spirits: there is only one suitable name for him - _Origin_."

"It is so," Origin stated, lowering himself to the ground. In a grand display of light, a stone materialized behind him in the shape of a tombstone, emblazoned with his name. "Young daughter of humanity, with the name you have given to me, will you form a pact with me?"

"A pact?" Estelle tilted her head.

"A pact?" Everyone else seemed to be whispering and mumbling the same question, including Judith from the other side of the mirror.

"The ordeal with the Adephagos has come from both humanity and the Kritya weakness in abusing the power they receive from the earth," Origin stated. "Although such a tragedy has been averted, with the advent of mana into this world, there is no guarantee that such a thing will not happen again."

Judith couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the mention of the Kritya – she knew that Origin was referring to her father's work.

"You're right," Estelle responded, maintaining eye contact with the grand Origin. "Humanity is weak. We look for the easy way out, and we hide behind excuses. We're divisive and we hurt each other and ourselves; from the sky, you must have seen civilizations rise and fall, in an endless and sad tango."

Rita cast her eyes downward – how could Estelle maintain the dignity and courage to stand face to face with a being as ageless as the world itself?

"Our overreliance on blastia to protect ourselves from the monsters that roam this land and harm each other is inexcusable," Estelle continued. "Our ignorance and selfishness that made us take the land we were mothered on for granted has put us in the predicament that we stood face to face with last year – we are inexcusable."

Her father Hermes, who was the man who cast aside his ties to the Circle to concentrate on blastia research after the loss of his wife. His earnest eyes were one of the clearest memories Judith could ever recall. It was difficult to watch and not feel any pangs of guilt - Judith involuntarily turned to stare at the package that was still by the kitchen counter. Her eyes widening, she thought of her own selfishness. The gift from Flynn she was staring at – were people always going to hurt each other? She knew that expecting something out of Flynn without stating her feelings in words couldn't help the situation.

She was taking his kindness for granted, just like how she could never make up the time that was stolen from her with her father.

Even when she was teasing him, there seemed to be a jolt of electricity between them when she caressed his arm with her fingertips. Flynn couldn't have been _that_ ignorant of her feelings. She wasn't going to take that first step by admitting hers first. But if things continued as they were, all they were going to do was hurt each other. Hadn't humanity suffered enough? That jolt had the potential to be warm and cold at the same time.

"However, we also have strength in the ability to change," Estelle smiled. "Perhaps one person can't do much, but one person can change themselves. By touching other peoples' lives, we can help change each other and grow. I promise in my short lifespan which may only be a drop of water in the vast ocean of your existence that I will fight for change. Change not only for myself, but for changing the lives of everyone that I can. Not as an Empress, not as a woman, not as a human, but as myself – on the name of Estellise Sidos Heurassein, I swear to you, I will honor our pact to change humanity: for the better."

"Young daughter of humanity," Origin lowered his gaze at the tiny creature before him. "Your eyes shine with wisdom beyond your lifetime."

The Kritya continued to murmur among themselves. It crossed Judith's mind to look for Christina's parents, but she didn't think now was the time to bring it up.

"Lord Origin," Estelle spoke with clarity and confidence, "Will you form a pact with me? Should humanity ever break this promise to you, with your authority, you may strip us of the gift of mana use."

"It is done." With those words, on the tablet behind Origin was emblazoned a new script from an ancient language, as the energy about them dissipated – the entire area was changed forever due to his mana signature, but now it wasn't so overwhelming that everyone couldn't breathe.

"Oh! There's one more thing!" Estelle happily trotted off to stand right in front of the grand Spirit. As she whispered in his ear as close as she could get by standing on her toes, the smile never left her face; after a few seconds, she took a step back, her arms folded behind her dress. "How does that sound?"

The Spirit's expression remained stoic, though a hint of a smile was present in his tone. "I shall grant you this favor."

With those words, Origin and the other Spirits were aglow with light, and disappeared.

"You certainly held your own there," Rita crossed her arms, proud of Estelle. "What was so secret about that last bit, anyway?"

"I'll tell you later," Estelle reassured Rita, walking away from the tablet. The Kritya around them continued to chat indistinctly as they cautiously wandered back into the landed Myorzo, some even taking a look and inspecting the new tablet lodged in the middle of the clearing. The two human women then approached the mirror. "That was quite something, wasn't it, Judith?"

"I can't disagree with you there," Judith smiled. "I'm proud of you."

"So, what's up with you, Judith?" Rita asked, certainly not forgetting their prior conversation.

"I wanted to congratulate Estelle on her pending nuptials," Judith forced a smile at the princess. "Flynn is a good man. I'm certain the two of you will be able to fulfill the pact that you instigated with Origin."

"Wait, what?" Estelle took a step back, obviously surprised. "What are you talking about, Judith?"

"We've been on the road for a while," Rita thought aloud. "Did the Council make their final decision?"

"I didn't realize that you didn't hear the news," Judith side-stepped apologizing. "Flynn told me that the Council appointed him to be Estelle's fiancé."

"No," Estelle whispered, as if trying to find the right words. Torn between what she wanted to say and what was expected of her, she was rendered speechless.

"Well, he's not a bad guy," Rita said. "It's better that it's him than some stuck-up jerk three times your age, right?"

"It's most likely a political decision," Judith mused. "Flynn is well-liked among both the Empire and the Guilds. Even though Estelle would be Empress, having her married to Flynn would create only good relations all around the world among the different people groups. I doubt Brave Vesperia, much less the Five Master Guilds, would tolerate anybody else taking that position."

"What about you?"

Both Rita and Judith turned and stared at the princess.

"How do you feel about this, Judith?" Estelle asked once again, her eyes locked with Judith's.

"What kind of question is that?" Rita lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm not leaving without your answer!" Estelle sternly spoke, on the verge of yelling. "Tell me, Judith," Estelle's voice softened in tone, her eyes filled with sadness.

Judith was very well aware of that fact. After a moment's silence, Judith shook her head. "Don't ask me this," she finally replied. "Don't ask me to make this decision for you."

"I'm not," Estelle lowered her head. "I have my responsibilities, as well as my newly formed pact with Origin. This is not something I can be selfish in."

"The Hell you can't!" Rita snapped, making Estelle flinch once again. "What does that have to do with anything, anyway? It's your life!"

"Don't worry about me," Judith softly spoke, her words piercing the silence after Rita's outburst. "You do what you feel is right, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Rita then closed off the connection between the two mirrors, abruptly cutting Judith out of the conversation.

Continuing to stare at the mirror now only seeing a reflection of her hesitant face, Estelle stood silent. Catching Rita staring at her in their reflection, Estelle sighed before facing the younger woman. "We need to make a stop before we head back to Zaphias," she declared, her lips trembling.

"It's just as well," Rita shook her hand, as if dismissing the situation with a wave. "I figured out the last bit of the formula we were working on when I saw a bunch of the algorithms shift when we created Origin – it's entirely possible now. Not to mention the aer supply we were considering before; it just might work."

"Thank goodness," Estelle gave a sigh of relief.

"At least one good thing should come out of all of this," Rita agreed, patting Estelle's shoulder. "I may not agree with your decision, but I'm going to support you whether you like it or not."

"I know," Estelle responded.


	11. I Can't Be Honest

**Chapter Eleven : I Can't Be Honest**

Five days passed since Origin was born.

Judith hadn't had a chance to revisit Ba'ul – taking care of the kids was her priority, after all. Judith had little if any joy left; each day dragged on endlessly and melted into the next. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, and taking care of the children as well as making certain the dressings on Christina's wounds were fresh every day. She lost track of the time that had passed, as she paid no attention to it. The cold chill of autumn was looming ever closer, becoming more prominent day by day, ever so slowly yet surely.

Wringing the sponge out into a bowl of warm water, Judith made certain to take care in washing Christina's wounds. Most of them had scabbed over well enough, though the deeper ones from the jagged edges of the cliff she slammed into were still staining a few of the bandages slightly. She regained more strength the day after Krones had transmuted into Origin, and stood awake long enough to eat and drink, though she had to be spoon-fed and cared for – the doctor had prescribed a sedative that kept her asleep through the worst of the pain.

"Still asleep," Judith noticed aloud, as she began her daily ritual of cleansing Christina's wounds. "They sometimes say that when you dream, it's a glimpse into your soul." Not that Judith ever knew - her sleepless nights were dreamless, ever since her father left her through death. "I can't say it enough; I'm sorry for this." Judith gazed at Christina's sleeping face, watching the steady breathing that was proof that she was still alive. If only taking care of Ba'ul was this easy.

Finishing up, Judith crossed her legs, feeling the warmth of the body underneath the covers: proof that she was still alive – her condition was slowly yet surely getting better. "I yelled at you, but I shouldn't have left you up there," Judith admitted. "I won't apologize for yelling at you – I can promise that as long as you stay here, I will take care of you."

Judith couldn't help but chuckle; why was she saying such things out loud? Stroking Christina's hair and cheek, Judith allowed the first smile she had in a long time emerge – not out of force, but because she didn't regret saying these words. "We'll be your family as long as you need, if you'll have us."

Packing up the bucket of water and sponge as well as old bandages, Judith's hips swayed with her gait as she made her way out. On her way to the door, she caught a glimpse of the shiny sphere Christina had counted as her sole possession – focusing her senses and antennae she could still see the image inside of it. Looking back, she took one last glance at Christina before closing the door behind her.

Opening, her eyes, Christina let a tear make its way down her face.

-.-.-

"Huh. Hoped I'd run into you."

Estelle turned her head at the sound of that familiar voice, turning her body as she trotted over to Yuri, politely bowing in greeting. "Yuri, it's been too long!"

"Yeah," Yuri sighed, though a smile was still present on his face as he used his fingers to remove a small leaf caught in Estelle's fine hair. How a leaf got there he had no idea, considering they were currently in the port city of Nordopolica. "I was in the area helping Natz with something - heading out now, though."

"Our ship had to stop by for supplies," Estelle nodded. "That's what Rita's doing right now - we just came from the Yuzorea continent. I plan on stopping by Aurnion before returning to Zaphias, though; there are a few things we need to take care of."

"News travels fast," Yuri responded. "Are you going to be okay with these changes?"

"It should be fine," Estelle reassured Yuri. "Once I finish up what we have to do in Aurnion, I don't think I'll have many more regrets."

"But you'll still have regrets."

"Yuri," Estelle sighed, turning to the sea. "Let's not argue semantics."

"I'm not arguing," Yuri followed her gaze, also looking out to the ocean. "Is this what you want?"

"It's not like the time when we were in Dahngrest," the princess softly spoke. "It's not like when I had that kind of freedom; I wanted to continue my journey, and I could. But our journey is over – I have responsibilities now, responsibilities that only I can fulfill. Humans, Kritya, and Spirits now all rely on me to keep my word."

"I think I'm missing a few details, there." Yuri lifted an eyebrow. "Aren't your decisions just that? They're yours."

"I'm in a position where my decisions can't be selfish," Estelle cut him off.

"Sometimes, being selfish is all right."

"In turn, that means that sometimes being selfish is completely inappropriate," Estelle turned her head to look at Yuri.

"Who are you trying to convince, Estelle?" Yuri's tone was soft, yet his face stern. "If you ask me, it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself you're doing the right thing."

"It's what I have to do as an adult," Estelle lowered her gaze, attempting to memorize Yuri's face and being – every nuance and gesture, every smell and sight, and every tone and phrase, as if it was going to be the last time she would ever lay eyes on him. "Things don't end happily ever after for every single person in the real world. Reality is far harsher than the fantasy stories my mother allowed me to inherit."

"Happy endings aren't given to you," Yuri chuckled. "You got to make them for yourself."

"If I chase after my own happiness, then it'll make an immeasurable amount of other people unhappy." Estelle then turned to face the sea once more. "If you ask ten different people what happiness is, you'll receive ten different answers. I may not receive the kind of happiness that I want, but perhaps I'll be able to learn to appreciate a different kind of happiness."

"Suit yourself," Yuri put his hand on her shoulder, giving Estelle a bit of a jolt. "I'll be there for you, no matter what."

"I know," Estelle responded, a bit sadly. "My memories of our time together will always be the happiest memories I'll ever have."

-.-.-

"You should go."

Judith turned around, a bit surprised. Tristan stood next to the stairwell, his arms crossed. Turning back to the task at hand, Judith inhaled deeply as she cut up chunks of meat to sauté. "Is that really the thing to say to your primary caregiver, young man?"

"You know what I meant," Tristan sighed, walking up to her side. "I can finish up the meal and I'll watch over the other kids. Besides, Repede's here, too. Nothing bad will happen if you take one of your walks."

Judith paused for a moment. For one, it came as a sudden surprise to her, someone else pointing out that she hadn't taken one of her usual walks in a very long time. Second, Tristan spoke with an air of maturity that she hadn't seen since they first met back in Zaphias – his eyes reminded her so much of Flynn's, it almost hurt; not that she'd ever admit it. "You've never cooked before," she stated, resuming her craft.

"I've been watching you," the young man stared at Judith. "You have other things to take care of, right? We can take care of ourselves to an extent. Stop using us as an excuse to not see him."

Judith had to admit, she was impressed by Tristan's maturity. Allowing the first genuine smile she had in a long while to surface, she ceded to him. "All right, then." She began to put down the knife, but stopped herself – flipping it over so that she was carefully holding the blade, she handed it handle-first to Tristan.

Taking it into his hand, they exchanged smiles.


	12. In This Serenity

**Chapter Twelve : In This Serenity**

The autumn colors finally settled in as Judith found her boots making several dried-out leaves crunch beneath her feet. She encountered a few monsters, but the sight of Judith's glare was enough to make even the hungriest of the beasts stop in their tracks as she continued about her trail. She thought she finally understood what happened with Ba'ul, and she was going to make certain that she wasn't too late – after all, it was the things you didn't do that you regretted more at the end of your life than the things you did, right? Taking Raven's advice to heart, Judith had to fight the urge to run against the slippery grass to her long-time friend; she wasn't going to make another mistake regarding this. Or rather, she wouldn't make the mistake of giving up.

Stepping into the clearing, she gave a sigh of relief when she could see Ba'ul's massive body still there. It had been a little over a week since she last met up with him – her steps quickly turning into a run, she was glad she still had time. However, it was rather unexpected when she saw the figures of two young women at the foot of where the grand beast lay.

"You didn't think that your visit was worth mentioning to me?" Judith walked up behind the two women as they turned around to face the Krityan.

"We were going to visit you right after we were done here," Estelle clapped her hands together in apology as she bowed her greeting to Judith.

"It's not like we need your permission to visit Ba'ul," Rita rolled her eyes.

"I know," Judith smiled, looking up at her partner. "We aren't one entity – it makes me glad to know that you cared enough to visit him."

"I didn't expect to hear you say that," Rita's surprise was clearly evident in her tone and expression. "What changed?"

"A lot," Judith nodded in response. "After all, we can't change other people. We can only change ourselves. Right, Estelle?" Judith turned and smiled at the princess.

Estelle agreed by nodding as well, a sad smile painted over her face.

Walking up to the Entelexeia, Judith once again gently petted the creature. His wounds were still present, but he was still alive somehow. Once again, Judith silently thanked fate that she was given this one last chance to tell Ba'ul how she really felt. "Hello, Ba'ul. It's been far too long, wouldn't you say?"

The creature remained silent.

"I think I understand you just a little bit better now," Judith continued, taking a seat next to her best friend. "Even more now than when we were connected; isn't that strange? You'd think that it would be the other way around."

Rita and Estelle looked at each other before turning again to see what Judith was up to, slightly confused.

"I made a lot of mistakes," Judith continued. "The bond that we share, it's special. However, no matter how close we are, there will always be a distance between us; I understand that now. I can feel your emotions by seeing you right now, even without being connected psychically with you. It seems so simple, but I think the gift that the Kritya were given has to do with that empathy, the ability to connect with each other – however, with that came the curse of being unable to communicate without it."

Ba'ul finally gave a low, gentle moan in response.

Stroking his fur, Judith's ran down the side of her face. "You didn't want to connect with Christina because we've always had each other; the bond between us is ours and ours alone. Even after you're gone, I'll never be able to forget you – you'll always be in my heart. I tell a lot of stories about you; did you know that? One of the children, Presea, is even in the middle of making a stuffed doll in your image. I wish you could see it."

The behemoth gave another sound – if Rita and Estelle didn't know any better, they would have thought he was laughing. Judith chuckled in turn.

"Those feelings of rejection Christina was feeling, no wonder you didn't want to take those on as your own," Judith continued. "The thought of being without each other is hard, isn't it? When I cut off our connection, that feeling of rejection was so strong – it was easier to just never forgive me so that I could move on with my life, wasn't it?" Judith paused, as she cast her gaze to the ground. "I won't make any more excuses. I don't want to say good-bye like this."

"There's a way you don't have to say good-bye, not like this!" Rita exclaimed, stepping forward. "That's why we're here!"

Judith blinked a few times before making eye contact with Rita. She was clearly confused; rather than saying it in words, she simply looked at Rita as if she were crazy.

"It's true," Estelle nodded, also taking a step toward Judith. "I know it's awfully forward of us, but we have a solution. It may not be ideal, but it's better than having Ba'ul die."

"I'm listening," Judith said.

"You forbade it before," Rita continued, hands on her hips. "There's a way to convert Ba'ul into a spirit, but there's a serious chance that he'll fall asleep once we convert him. Remember when we transmuted Sylph? It'll take a lot longer than that. Perhaps longer than any of us will live."

"He's too young," the Krityan responded. "I don't think his apatheia has accumulated enough aer to even give _birth_ to a new Spirit."

"You're right," Estelle said. "It's definitely a major concern. We had this thought when we visited before, but we didn't figure out the specifics until a little while ago – when we converted Origin, Rita had an epiphany! It should be possible, in theory. But again, it _is_ a risk."

"If we turn Ba'ul into a Spirit, we're going to redirect the remaining aer in the world to him, as well as another source. Remember when we entered that channel of memories and experienced life in Yormgen?"

Judith nodded.

"Basically, when Duke destroyed the clear ciel crystal, a _lot_ of aer from that apatheia was basically trapped in that alternate dimension." Rita explained. "The working here is set up; once we have your consent, we're going to transmute Ba'ul into an apatheia, charge it with the aer from that dimension, and he'll be reborn as a sleeping Spirit. Sort of like a bug going into a cocoon stage, you see?"

"It's great news!" Estelle pumped her arms, excited. "I know it's not ideal but it's better than having him pass away, right?"

Judith took a moment to process all of this new information. What she felt from Ba'ul before was fear – that's what gave her the impression that he didn't want to be converted into a Spirit. Yet emotions were complex – nobody could describe themselves in ten words or less, so why would we want anyone else to do it for us? She was scared to come to Ba'ul and was afraid of being rejected again – however, now that she had, she didn't regret it.

"How does that sound, Ba'ul?"

The beast moaned a bit; without words she knew what he meant.

Standing up, Judith bowed to both Rita and Estelle. "Please, do me this honor." Looking up to Ba'ul, Judith gave him a genuine smile filled with both sadness and happiness. "Ba'ul, make me a promise." Closing her eyes, she concentrated. "In the future, in a world where I no longer exist, please continue to protect those who can't protect themselves. Even if you can never find another person who you can share a deep bond that we had, reach out to those who are hurting and defend them. Even if you're lonely, helping those who are also struggling with loneliness – perhaps we can strengthen each other."

Once again, a moan was heard in affirmation.

"Please, do it." Judith took a step down, and leaned against a tree trunk where she could see everything.

Clasping her hands together, Estelle began to pray as Rita activated the working, the giant emanating with a warm light. Resonating, all of the remaining aer in the world slowly yet surely gathered in this one place, and the working Rita had pointed out earlier ripped open a hole in the fabric of reality, a gentle stream of aer also flowing through it toward Ba'ul's heart.

It didn't take long.

In only several seconds, it was done. The portal closed as the last of the stray aer made its way through. In Ba'ul's place was a metal ball about the size of a two-story building, silver and shining a reflection of the afternoon sun.

Judith stepped toward it, placing her hand on it. It looked familiar – closing her eyes and concentrating, she couldn't help but smile. An image entered her mind; they were no longer connected the way that they were, but with this, she was satisfied.

"You should give him a name," Estelle interrupted, approaching Judith.

"That's your job," Judith opened her eyes, tears streaming from her crimson eyes.

"It means more to you," the princess insisted.

Rita had nothing to say; she just grinned at the Krityan and gave her a thumbs up, signaling her approval of the idea.

Judith cast her gaze at her own reflection in the metal sphere, lost in thought. Naming something wasn't a task she ever put that much thought into before. For a moment, she imagined what it would have been like in Estelle's shoes. The responsibility of giving a name was a big one, because christening it was like giving it a part of yourself that they would carry on for the rest of their existence. Thinking back, she recalled the meaning behind her own name given to her by her late mother: _He shall be praised_.

He, her father Hermes, had created a horrible thing such as the Hermes-grade blastia; at first glance, it didn't seem like he deserved praise. Judith had taken it upon herself at one time to destroy his legacy, his life's greatest work; she had no means to do that aside from pure unbridled destruction. However, on her journey, she met her friends who showed her another way – working with Rita she could deactivate the blastia rather than destroying them. There was always another way; working together, while the very best of outcomes may not always be possible, it was always possible to strive for the very best ending possible.

Recalling some of her father's discarded notes, she remembered a name. She had no idea what it meant, but it was a fond memory of her father. If nothing else, at least one thing he worked on should survive to see the future in some shape or form.

"I give you the name _Maxwell_," Judith stated. "With this name I want you to live on toward tomorrow."

With a bright flash of light, the name was emblazoned on the edge of the sphere.

"Maxwell," Estelle repeated, "The Spirit of Birth. It's a fitting name, Judith."

"I think that's the last of them," Rita stretched. "Unless there are more Spirits hiding out there somewhere, but I'd rather not think about that."

"I can't go traveling to name them," Estelle looked down. Everyone present knew what she meant by those words.

"One last memory together," Judith said, patting Estelle's shoulder. "It's a good one, at least. Are you certain you can live with regrets?"

"Saying things like that doesn't really help," Rita commented, tapping her foot. "And here people thought _I_ was the one who didn't filter my words."

"Hush now," Judith smiled.

"It's fine," Estelle answered. "I may have regrets, but I will also at least be good on my word."

"There are other ways to be good on your word," Judith turned around, ready to start heading back. "You're a smart girl – you're going to do the right thing, whether you realize it or not."

"_Someone_ seems a lot cheerier," Rita crossed her arms, unsure what to make of this situation. "But as long as we're speaking honestly, I'm telling you Estelle." She turned to the princess with a stern look on her face. "Me being happy is being friends and being able to see each other."

"Duly noted," Estelle involuntarily smiled. It was refreshing to hear that kind of honesty.

"When it gets dark out, the monsters get a lot fiercer," Judith waved, her figure getting smaller and smaller as the distance between her and the women was increasing.

"We'd better hurry," the princess swayed her own hips as she followed after Judith. "I don't know about you, but monsters like to interrupt my casting – we'd better follow Judith."

"People make me sad," Rita sighed, running after them. Catching up with Judith, Rita refused to make eye contact as she mustered up the courage to say what else was on her mind. "We have to go."

"I assumed so," Judith teased.

"I'm going to take the mirror with us to the ceremony," Rita continued reluctantly. "I know it's probably not the sort of thing you'll want to see, but we should be there to at least be supportive of Estelle, right? It would mean a lot to her, if you could witness this moment of her life."

"I'd be honored," Judith responded as she tapped Rita on the shoulder. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Rita glanced at Judith's face before falling back and continuing to walk alongside Estelle.


	13. Wedding Dress

**Chapter Thirteen : Wedding Dress**

"Here she is," Judith opened the door, allowing the princess and the mage into the room. Taking a seat next to Christina's bed, Estelle looked at Judith. "This is the girl I was telling you about on the way here, Estelle."

"Those injuries are serious," Rita observed, standing behind Estelle. "Yeah, stating the obvious, but it's amazing she's recovered this much. I assume that she's under sedation, Judith?"

Judith nodded in response. "The doctors did what they could, but medicine is obviously a long way away from having the capabilities of your healing artes."

"My healing artes haven't been too affected by the conversion to mana," Estelle explained. "Rita said that because my healing artes were channeled through an internal algorithm inside of my bloodline, I'm not suffering from the same issue as everyone else who relied solely on their bodhi blastia."

"Still, this might be a good time to try out the Methodism Theorem we were working on," Rita's eyes lit up. "I mean, regular gels and life bottles haven't been working on her, right? It couldn't hurt to try!"

"Are there any risks?" Judith inquired, concern evident in her tone.

"Of course not!" Rita waved her hand to dismiss the notion of danger. "It's all natural!"

"Maybe later we can try shoving tree-bark down your throat if it doesn't work," Judith teased. "That's all natural, too."

"It'll be fine," Estelle reassured Judith. "I won't let anything bad happen, not on my watch."

"You do what you can," Judith smiled.

Folding her hands together, Estelle's spell commands were indecipherable to the Krityan as a new, sensational energy filled the room. Rita placed her hands on Estelle's shoulders, closing her eyes as if to help the concentration of energy and formulas being manifested into a glyph that appeared in front of Estelle. Judith tilted her head when she heard an unfamiliar incantation emerge from Estelle's lips: "_Strands of embrace, give name to the luminosity that begat this majestic land. Revitalize!_" The glyph then dispersed as the gathered energy then entered Christina's body as it became aglow with the light Estelle had conjured, her wounds closing rapidly.

"Wow," Judith blinked a few times, making her way to Christina's side as she examined the young girl's body.

"Man, creating formulas to increase metabolism to this point is hard work!" Rita exclaimed, taking a seat on the floor, exhausted.

"What do you mean?" Judith asked, turning to look at Rita.

"It wouldn't work unless her body already had the capability to heal itself," Rita explained, attempting to find a comfortable position against the wall. "The way the Methodism Theorem works is that it just uses what's already there and reinforces it with the energies around you. If she didn't already have the will to live, that arte would have no foundation to work itself on."

"Thank goodness," Estelle gave a sigh of relief. "I don't think I could have lived with myself if I had disappointed you, Judith."

"This coming from the woman who could stand face-to-face with Origin without flinching," Rita sighed.

"It's a completely different situation!" Estelle retorted. "Judith is my friend! It's harder to face your friends with something like this," her voice trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought.

Judith couldn't hold back her gentle laughter. "You two must be exhausted," she said between chuckles, "Why don't you go downstairs and I'll be down shortly to prepare something for you to eat before you head off?"

"Sounds good to me," Rita stood up and patted Estelle's shoulder. "Let's go."

Judith watched as the door shut behind them, and turned back to Christina. "I figured their noise wouldn't let you go back to sleep," she said.

Christina opened her eyes, a bit sheepishly. "How did you know I was awake?"

"I'm no scientist, but when she mentioned your metabolism being sped up I figured the sedative would also wear off that much quicker."

"I'm hungry," Christina propped herself up so that she could lean against the wall. "You grew up around scientists, didn't you?" Christina's eyes narrowed. "None of the current Kritya are scientists, and you were present at Mount Temza when it was destroyed."

"Is that really the tone you should take with someone who just arranged to have your life saved?" Judith deflected, but she didn't entirely mind this line of questioning.

"You're right," Christina then turned her gaze to the window. "I've been ungrateful."

"My father was Hermes, the engineer behind the Hermes-grade blastia," Judith continued as she ignored Christina's statement. "So you're right – surface-dwellers really are to blame." The older Krityan pulled her knee up and hugged it with her arm. "But as you can see, they're capable of something great, too. Without those two surface-dwellers, you may have never been able to walk normally again."

"I've been conceited," Christina stated. "I've always been thinking of just myself, putting myself higher than everyone else because I was too afraid of being looked down on. But either way, I'd always be alone." She turned back to face Judith. "People are people – we share the same feelings with or without having the Circle."

Judith patted Christina's head, proud of the young woman. "Now maybe you'll finally have people who call you 'Chrissy', right?"

"You saw through that, too." Christina blushed a bit. "Yeah, nobody ever called me that before in my life except for my late parents."

"The other children will start calling you that once you start making an effort to connect with them," Judith reassured her. "Now, let's go and get you fed." She already figured out that Christina was without parents – the particulars didn't matter. Not right now, because right now Judith was her parent.

Christina happily nodded in agreement.

-.-.-

After seeing the princess and the mage off at the port settlement, Judith returned to Aurnion; immediately the children could tell that there was a bounce in her step that had been regained. Over the next three days laughter and joy returned to the household as stories of Brave Vesperia's exploits occupied their evenings during story time and the meal tables were occupied with discussions on what the days have been filled with. Judith couldn't help but be thankful that the children were mature enough to not ask questions that she found difficult to answer.

Christina hadn't touched the metal sphere in more than a week, but the change in her was quite evident. In just a few short days, the other kids were referring to her as 'big sis' as she took on more than her fair share of the duties around the household and took care of several chores, helping both Judith and Tristan out. It was like having an entirely different person around the house. It was never spoken, but it was definitely appreciated by everyone, most of all Christina herself.

"Senior," Christina tugged at Judith's arm. "The mirror is ready! Take a break from cooking and watch the coronation with the others – I'll take care of the rest of the meal preparation with Tristan, okay?"

"Why, aren't we little Ms. Taskmaster today?" Judith resigned, laying down the utensils and relinquishing control over to Christina. "You'll be able to hear it from here, too – if anything special happens, just stop what you're doing so we can all enjoy it together, all right?"

"Let us know once Flynn takes center stage," Tristan nodded. "We all want to see him again, right?"

"You're right," Judith nodded. Things didn't end up the way she wanted them to, but she was still proud of him; no matter what, while she had regrets, it was too late to look back now. Yet, even though it had been less than a week, she could look back on their time together as a make-shift family fondly – the next time they were face to face, she would work up the courage to apologize to him. If he had to end up with anyone, Estelle was a good choice. She wished them both the best of happiness they could manage, for Judith had found her own happiness here.

Taking a seat at the table so that the children could see the mirror from the floor, they all gathered together – the mirror was already displaying the center hall of the Imperial castle at the heart of Zaphias. Had it really been so long since she last stepped foot in that city? It felt like a distant memory as Judith witnessed the crowds within the hall drown out every sound with their incessant chatter. Both members of the Guilds were present as well as imperial citizens, standing below the steps to the throne room making way for the red carpet leading up to a crescent table that seated the members of the High Council.

She caught a glimpse of Flynn standing at the edge of the stage; Judith involuntarily put her right hand over her chest. Trumpets blared, silencing everyone in both rooms as they heralded the beginning of the procession. Everyone stood in awe as the Head Councilman took a stand, as Captain Sodia walked down the aisle, holding the imperial blade Dein Nomos on a red velvet pillow where it rested. Kneeling in front of the Head Councilman, Sodia raised the pillow as the elderly man took the sword with both of his hands – the Knight Captain then took her place to the side, across from Flynn. He was wearing his Commandant suit of armor adorned with gold and velvet cloth for the occasion.

The trumpets played once more as everyone turned to the entrance of the room situation below the mirror. "Man, holding this thing in place is heavy," Judith heard Rita's voice – _so that's where she was_. She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Rita on the balcony, holding the mirror in place with a rope. Those thoughts were interrupted as it was made apparent who the trumpets heralded; Judith caught glimpse of pink beneath the white veil that concealed the woman walking down the aisle, dressed in impeccable lacey white as the train of her gown trailed several feet behind her. The Krityan noticed the faint gold glimmer of her memento necklace placed around her neck, and also the pearls and diamonds that overlaid the laced layers of her dress – it was a wonder she could move at all, as it was heavier than any armor she ever wore.

All eyes were on her, the soon-to-be Empress with her eyes set straight forward without hesitation, locked onto the blade Dein Nomos.

Making her way in front of the High Councilman, Estelle knelt and bowed respectfully.

A speech followed – Judith paid no attention to it. Folding her hands in her lap, her eyes were splitting their focus, darting back and forth between Estelle and Flynn, uncertain the emotions that were welling up inside of her. Time seemed to stop as empty words were stated; she had no interest in the empty promises of the Empire unless Estelle or Flynn were behind those words. It was a harsh sentiment, but a true one – that much for certain Judith was certain she felt without any doubt.

Jolting her out of her reverie, Flynn made a move, taking a stand next to Estelle as he held a beautifully crafted tiara in his armored hands, their blue eyes interlocked. "This is it," he whispered to the princess.

Turning to face the people, Estelle deliberately avoided making any eye contact with the mirror hung off of the balcony above her. She was ready; she prepared this speech several days in advance, combing over each and every single word she was going to say: _Residents of our world, Terca Lumireis, I hereby accept this responsibility of becoming your Empress. With your help, I will create a foundation for this world to prosper together in harmony. I am Estellise Sidos Heurassein – and I vow fulfill my duty to the best of my ability._

Opening her mouth, she stammered a bit.

"Lady Estellise," Flynn whispered.

Glancing at him, Estelle gave an apologetic smile before continuing, addressing the people watching her. "People of Terca Lumireis," she said. Not just imperial citizens, not just those who lived under the code of the Guilds, nor just anybody in between or outside; it sounded inclusive enough. However, she hesitated once more for a few seconds.

Raising her head, she forced a smile. "As your Empress, I give you my first and last order."

The room simultaneously gasped, immediately followed by indistinct murmurs.

"What is the meaning of this?" The High Councilman snapped.

Estelle continued, ignoring him. "Rather than Imperial Rule, I hereby instigate a democratic draft – the people shall work together without the divide between royalty and those who aren't. Just because I am a Child of the Full Moon doesn't give me any right to rule any of you."

"Silence her!" The High Councilman yelled, pointing to any of the imperial knights who would listen to him.

"I knew you'd make the right choice," Flynn grinned. Glancing at the Councilman, he nodded. "I'll take care of this."

"I'm sorry," Estelle apologized, "But this is what my heart wants. I can't fulfill my duty as a woman or as Empress, knowing what I would be giving up."

"There's no need to explain," Flynn responded, unsheathing his sword.

"I know," Estelle smiled, "Prince Ioder has the democratic draft in his hands – we wrote it together."

Holding the sword above his head, Flynn brought it clashing down after he tossed aside the tiara, ripping the train of Estelle's dress off. Turning around and facing the High Councilman, he was on guard. "You have a special visitor waiting for you atop the tower. Use the door behind the throne!"

"Run, Estelle!" Everyone could hear Rita barking orders despite the clamor of the room – several knights armed themselves as they made rapid movements toward the princess.

"A visitor," Estelle mused for a split second before figuring out what Flynn meant. "Thank you, Flynn – thank you for allowing me this selfishness." Her responsibilities versus her desires – Estelle knew what she had to do. With those words, the princess darted behind the table, dodging the Grand Council as she activated the doorway, shutting it behind her. Before the door completely closed, she shouted to Flynn. "You make certain to fulfill your dreams, too!"

"Look, you guys, I'm sure you want to know what happens next, but I'll have to catch you up later, all right?" Rita lifted the mirror above its perch and stared into it, making eye contact with Judith.

"Keep me posted," Judith chuckled as she gave a small wave.

The connection was then cut off.

-.-.-

The steps seemed even more endless than they usually were, as Estelle ran up the stairs after kicking off her high heels. The dress was heavy and she tossed aside her veil, finally making her way to the plateau atop of the central spire after several minutes of rushing – she couldn't help but smile as she saw who was waiting for her.

"Hey there," Yuri waved, as if he was expecting her presence.

"Sorry I'm late," Estelle bowed frantically as she finally stood in front of him, her hands folded in front of her.

"What can I do for you?" Yuri noticed that the clamor from the throne room was quite audible even from where they were, as people began spilling out of the grand castle far below them.

Estelle looked around, noticing that Yuri had come prepared as a cable was extended from one of the jagged tops of the spire toward the outskirts of the capital. Giving him a shy smile, she nodded. "I'd like for you to take me away from here," she stated eloquently as her stance was filled with a renewed confidence. "Would you please kidnap me?"

"I can't disobey orders like that," Yuri spoke with a straight face. Extending his hand toward the woman, he finally burst out laughing. "How about we start this the right way?"

"Of course!" Estelle placed her hand into Yuri's. "I want to continue my journey. With you, Yuri – there's nobody else I'd rather embark upon this route than you."

"That's what I like to hear!" With a single smooth motion, Yuri wrapped his arm around Estelle's bulky gown and grabbed a hold of her waist. "Hang on tight," he warned, as he ran toward the spire with the cable latched onto it.

"Whoa!" Estelle exclaimed, hanging on for dear life as adrenaline made its presence known throughout every extremity in her body. Yuri with his free hand took out a hook as they leapt from the corner of the ledge without rails, the hook catching onto the cable as they slid through the air, taking in the view of the city from above.

It was scary, but it was a good kind of excitement coursing through their veins.


	14. Final Distance

**Chapter Fourteen : Final Distance**

"Judith, I heard that Flynn's due to arrive at the port tomorrow." Tristan's statement caused Judith to halt sewing a patch onto a pair of pants. Two days had passed since the debacle of a ceremony, and the entire world was still feeling the effects of what Estelle had pulled in the capital. Judith turned to Tristan, smiling faintly. "I just thought it'd be nice if you went to welcome him home."

"I'm afraid," Judith admitted. Returning to the task at hand, she gave a sad smile. "I did an awful thing to him the last time he was here. He has every right to be angry with me."

Tristan took a seat next to her, handing Judith another spool of thread as he noticed she was about to run out. "Hey, you're both still human. Once he gets back, if you make the first move, maybe you can start all over."

"I know that," Judith took the spool and began preparing the thread and the needle. "I know that in my head. Yet my heart is still afraid; that fear paralyzes me, because each and every passing day the doubt that he'd forgive me overpowers me."

"Yeah, rejection is hard." Tristan set his chin down on the table, staring at Judith's hand movements as she gingerly patched up the pants. "Isn't the uncertainty that if you did nothing being worse than trying _something_ even harder, though?"

Judith put the pants down as she looked at Tristan's earnest eyes. "I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at."

Leaning back into the chair, Tristan sighed. "He won't be able to forgive you unless you make the step to give him the opportunity to forgive you. I have no idea how to make it any simpler than that."

"I think Christina's attitude is rubbing off on you a little too much," Judith resumed her work on sewing.

"You're deflecting again," Tristan stated.

"This is why I could never become a parent," Judith sighed – she hoped that would make it clear enough that she had no intention on continuing the conversation.

"I did it!"

Both Judith and Tristan turned their heads to the stairwell, where the steps of the young Krityan woman were racing down the steps, nearly falling down until she leapt from the midway point to the dining room floor. Holding the metal ball excitedly in her hands, her teeth beamed brightly as if lighting up the entire room. "I finally did it, Senior! I can see what's inside of the sphere!"

"Congratulations," Judith smiled as she set aside the project she was working on. Walking up to the younger woman, she gave her a tight hug. "The strength of our bonds with others is our gift as part of the Kritya race – being able to see past the surface and understand what's inside of someone or something else is the beginning of being able to master our gift."

"The bond with others," Tristan repeated as he took in this information. Walking up behind Judith, he smiled. "Flynn said something similar: 'our sorrow is proof that we share our sadness.' If that's the case, then our joy is proof that we share our happiness."

"You're lucky you're adorable," Judith patted Tristan's head as she chuckled. "Otherwise you just come off as preachy." Turning back to Christina, Judith released the young Krityan from her embrace. "Are you going to head off to Yuzorea then?"

Christina's eyes widened – she was so busy trying to see the image inside of the sphere, she hadn't given any thought to the implications _after_ she mastered this one technique. Taking a step back, she lowered her head. "I don't," she began, "I haven't thought about it." Setting the ball on the floor, Christina took a seat on the stairs.

"Just stay here," Tristan folded his fingers together behind his head, as if it were the easiest thing to say in the world. "I mean, we're your family now, right?"

Judith picked up the sphere, and stared at it. "Family, you say?" Closing her eyes, she already knew what to expect. She knew what the image was since the first day she met Christina, but focusing, she saw it once more.

It was crude, but it was a stick-figure drawing of two adults and two children.

Opening her eyes, she smiled at Christina. "He's right," she continued. "This is our home now."

Christina looked at Tristan, then at Judith. After a moment, her smile returned; "Right."

-.-.-

The fresh air of Aurnion certainly was different from the air at Zaphias; taking in the crisp autumn air into his lungs, it felt liberating to be away from the chaos that was engulfing the imperial capital. There was a definite pang of guilt, but Prince Ioder was fairly insistent that Flynn return to Aurnion; in case the worst happened to Ioder, there needed to be someone else far away. Someplace that was safe from those who would fight for the interests of imperial rule.

The world was upside-down thanks to the stunt that Lady Estellise pulled, but Flynn didn't find himself minding; sometimes, chaos was needed to appreciate order.

That, and the sight of a certain couple high-tailing it out of the capital amidst the commotion elicited the brightest smile Flynn could muster.

Entering the gates, he politely bowed to each passerby and the guards who caught sight of him – he had a striking appearance, and he heard a few murmurs as well; of course, he paid them no need. The engagement was broken, obviously, but he didn't find himself minding. Puzzled looks met his cheerful demeanor as he strode into the town square, with the empty and broken blastia standing tall. Turning his head, he noticed Repede and the children outside of the door to the orphanage.

"Welcome back," Presea greeted.

"Yeah, welcome home!" Kyle beamed.

"I hope you brought us some expensive souvenirs!" Anise chuckled.

"It's good to be back," Flynn sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his neck as he approached the orphanage.

"Not quite yet," Tristan stopped him, holding up his palm.

"You should go home, first!" Christina grinned, pointing to Flynn's house on the other end of the plaza.

"Is she still mad at me?" Flynn sighed – that must be why the children weren't allowing him inside. "It's good to see you on your feet," he nodded to Christina.

"Maybe," Tristan turned to Christina with a faux confused look. "If anything, it would be because he didn't write in advance."

"Totally," Christina shrugged as she played along. "Besides, you reek of ocean and sweat. You should totally go home first and wash up before going inside of here!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd assume you were trying something," Flynn raised an eyebrow. Turning as his cape followed his movements in midair, Flynn's gait toward his house was one that was earnest; he wished to speak with Judith as soon as possible.

"This seemed really unnecessary," Kyle whispered, leaning against the building.

"Sometimes it's nice to put a little effort into this sort of thing," Presea commented.

"They're going to do something that couples do," Anise shrugged, opening the room before letting herself in. "We can take care of ourselves for just a bit."

"We can handle it, right?" Christina grinned at Tristan.

"I certainly hope so, Chrissy!" Tristan couldn't help but laugh as he also went in. "Let's go and get dinner ready, everyone."

The clanging between Flynn's armored fingers and the doorknob seemed to resonate through his entire being as he took a deep breath and opened the door, surprised at the sight before him.

Even in the dimly lit room, she was positively radiant.

For what light was available, it shimmered across the white and soft blue hues of the dress; the shine clung to the curves of her crossed legs, her feet adorned with pearl-white heels as the shoes themselves had absolutely no imperfections – yet they paled in contrast to the visible slit of leg, her skin's flawless nature making the carefully calculated sheen of the dress' abrupt gradient designed to accent her breasts seem stained in comparison. His eyes traveling up, the dress had a very obvious plunging slit for a neck line, leaving a gratuitous diamond-shaped opening about her navel as the straps narrowed as they reached her shoulders, tightly hugging her neck as it rivaled the platinum-plated choker adorning her delicate neck with a striking blood-red gemstone set into it. Starting at her biceps, pure white dress gloves covered her arms to her nails as they helped to support her weight against the cushion of the bed.

Her lips pursed, her piercing ruby eyes looked at him as they finally locked into eye-contact, the sparkle reflected in her eyes stronger than that of her dangling silver earrings; her hair was tied up, though her antennae were flowing down behind her arms.

"It turns out that I _did_ have an occasion to wear this outfit you gave me," she finally broke the silence. Standing up, she took a step toward Flynn before hesitating, clenching one of her fists against her near-bare chest as she forced the best smile she could manage. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up, honestly."

Shutting the door behind him, Flynn gave a bit of an awkward smile – he knew that _something_ was up, but nothing like this. Giving a bit of a nervous chuckle, he took a step forward, closing in the distance between them ever so slightly. Averting his gaze as if he'd be blinded by staring at her for too long, he scanned the room once more before settling his eyes on Judith's figure once more.

"I hope I wasn't keeping you waiting for too long," Flynn finally spoke after what felt like an eternity. Making his way to the counter, he pulled out two glasses as well as a new bottle of wine out of the cabinet; it seemed appropriate enough.

With all of the strength that Judith possessed over her controlled reactions, she could not help but feel the warmth of her cheeks heighten as she averted her gaze, a bit embarrassed. Not only was the dress something that revealed a lot, it was being open to someone else – another human being that frightened her. "I know I have no right to do this sort of thing. If you'd like, I can leave. I have a few things I'd like to say, but after what happened last time," her voice trembled, "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't care about what I had to say."

"I'm glad you're here. I actually wanted to speak with you." Setting aside the glasses and bottle, he instead focused his attention on what Judith had to say. Flynn extended his hand; taking her gloved hand in his own armored on, the sultry beauty stood. "Ladies first, though." He forced a chuckle, awaiting her reaction.

"You unholy tease," Judith's face twisted just slightly in an annoyed expression, but she held it back. "You're really going to make me do this?" With her free hand, she laid it on his shoulder pad; instinctively he placed his free hand on her hip. His sheepish grin was all the answer she needed as she became resigned to the situation. There were several things she had wanted to say, all running through her mind seemingly simultaneously. After a few seconds, her eyes involuntarily darted to a corner of the room obscured by shadow, as she was unable to figure out the exact words she wanted to start off with. Parting her lips, she closed them once again after several seconds of rumination lead to no foreseeable conclusion. However, frustration was not a factor in this moment. Wrapping her arm just the slightest bit more tightly around him, her eyes met with his once again.

"You don't have to say anything," Flynn reassured her, unable to conceal his smile.

"No, I have to do this," Judith nodded slightly before she realized she was this close to another person; if she made any sudden movements, Flynn would probably end up with a bruise of some sort. Taking in a deep breath, she made a resolution to carry through this simple task. The most important thing she wanted to say left her lips with her exhale, soft and evanescent as the aer that disappeared from all existence without a trace: "Welcome home, Flynn."

Pulling her closer to him, their lips met.

No further words were needed.

-.-.-

It seemed almost fitting that a full moon was present that night as the two basked in its light atop of the roof of the orphanage. As Flynn changed into something a bit more comfortable, Judith slipped on a coat to shield herself from the cold as well as brought up a picnic dinner and set up a table on the rooftop. Presea was young, but she was an _excellent_ craftswoman. The picnic dinner was also supplied by Tristan and Christina – it was nice, as if this dinner date was supported by everyone around them.

"Rather than getting me this dress, we _really_ need to take you clothes-shopping at some point." Judith teased, as she handed Flynn a glass of wine. He was wearing a simple beige tunic and pair of pants with a light coat in stark contrast to Judith's elegant dress.

"This basically sums up all that I have, aside from armor." Flynn sighed, taking the glass that Judith poured for him. "Besides, when I don't have to dress up, I'd rather not; being the Imperial Commandant may be one thing, but being Flynn Scifo is quite another."

Judith's eyes must have given away her surprise as he just chuckled nervously at that confession. "Out of everyone, I wasn't expecting to hear _that_ from you." She then proceeded to take a sip of the drink.

"Hey, nobody's so simple that they can be boiled down to one or two words, right?" Flynn nervously laughed as he also took a sip of the beverage, sitting as casually as his clothes as he stared at the distant moon. "I was always going to come back here. Everyone else sees me as the Commandant; here, I can be something else."

"One thing isn't true," Judith commented as she shifted her position so that she could face him. "You have people who don't see you as the Commandant. Yuri's known you since childhood, and Estelle wouldn't think so highly of you if she simply thought of you as a member of the knights." She couldn't help but smile as she teased the poor knight. "Then there's Repede who stayed with us ever since we started this little project of ours. Raven has also taken quite the liking to you, and that's in spite of his feelings toward the knights. I'm certain that says something, too."

"The way I feel about any of them isn't the way I feel about you," Flynn stated, unable to return her gaze as a slight blush was clearly visible on his ears despite the cool air. "Yuri understands me in the sense that we can share everything, and while we don't agree on everything, we always have each others' backs."

"You're making me jealous," Judith chuckled, pulling her kneed toward her chest as her head tilted to rest on it.

"Lady Estellise is the princess," he continued without as much as a blink. "I find it disgusting how the Council uses her position to lord over the Imperial Knights, but that fault is not of her own. It was actually quite worse _before_ she went out in the world and experienced it, but again I have Yuri to thank for that. I knew that in his hands, she would be safe."

"Thank goodness that's no longer an option," Judith earnestly listened. "No longer must the princess be shackled to her duty, though I do wonder how she intends to fulfill her pact with Origin."

"Where there's a will," Flynn chuckled in turn, "there's always a way. If anyone can find it, it's those two."

Judith nodded, taking a bite of the sandwich prepared on the table. The children may not have had certificates of accomplishment in refining fine dining dishes, but at least it was difficult to spill.

"At times, I think Repede's more here for you than for me," he scratched the back of his neck as he looked up. "Then we have Captain Schwann, who always has and always will be my hero; there's no way he'll see me as anything but a little boy yearning to accomplish everything out of his reach."

Judith sighed; Raven wasn't around, so there was no need to correct Flynn on his name. "The more you delay this, the colder your meal's going to get." Judith crossed her legs, following Flynn's gaze to the stars. "Then again, it's one of your more endearing qualities." Pausing, she noticed the silence that lingered. Inhaling deeply as if to prepare herself, she knew that the following words would be difficult to say; however, it was the only way to know. It wasn't as if they could be connected through her antennae, after all. "Who can you be to me?"

"I think it's more of a question as to what you currently _are_ to me," Flynn corrected her.

"You're making this more difficult than it has to be," Judith put down her sandwich and sighed, growing a bit frustrated. "You're not _really_ going to make me work this hard for it, are you?"

Flynn turned his head to take in another view of Judith, gulping air as if that would help. Nervously laughing, he jerked his view away to take a look at the sandwich at his side.

"Never mind," Judith rubbed her temples, and then began to move away and toward the ladder. "I should be getting to bed, anyway. Enjoy your food, all right?"

"Wait!" Flynn grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"Unless you have something to say, you're going to be suffering from a different kind of red marking on your face," Judith's eyes narrowed.

She knew what she wanted to hear, but at the same time she wasn't entirely certain if she liked the word: _love_. What was love? Judith certainly felt love for others; affection wasn't something she withheld, especially considering that the children definitely needed it. She felt love for Ba'ul, the being who stayed by her side the longest out of anybody. She felt love for Repede, the dog standing vigilant at the door and who helped her out by playing with the children when she had things to take care of.

But feeling love and being _in_ love were to completely different things.

Judith never knew that longing for someone could be that painful.

"There's a lot of things I want to say," Flynn stammered out; it was enough to make Judith sit back down, scooting closer to the table to hear what he had to say. "You're beautiful, for one. I mean, you just don't across very many attractive women when your days are spent amongst the knights, and I'm pretty sure it's pretty inconvenient to shave your legs when they're always covered by greaves."

"That's something a lady always wants to hear," Judith put an elbow on the table as she leaned her chin against her hand.

"Um, there's also the fact that you're intelligent!" Flynn scratched the back of his head once again as his eyes darted to the corner of an imaginary sight behind Judith. "I mean, not in the way a mage is or anything, but you know things that I couldn't even begin to _imagine_ existing. You speak of things like the Circle and blastia cores and the Entelexeia, and I just have a feeling that there was a lot more behind your journey than the snippets Yuri let me in on."

"You certainly do listen when I tell stories to the children."

"Moving along," Flynn coughed, "You have this incredible fighting spirit – nobody else can compare! It's a shame I never got to see you in actual combat, but if your spearhead is as sharp as your tongue, I'd rather not be on the receiving end of your artes."

"I don't imagine many people refusing my tongue," Judith teased.

"The more you do that, the less inclined I am to know what to do next," Flynn softly spoke, before making eye contact with her again.

"Flynn," Judith took her free hand and gently caressed the side of Flynn's face with it; the amusement in her tone and face were quite evident. "Words are nice and all, but sometimes there _is_ such a thing as too many words."

"Which words would you use then, Judith?"

A couple of seconds passed as Judith thought about this, but then her smile grew even brighter as Flynn took her hand into his own, gently kissing it. Pulling the man closer to her their foreheads touched ever so slightly as the Krityan prepared to give her answer to him.

"Please be my partner."

The third kiss was the charm.


	15. Maybe Someday

**Chapter Fifteen : Maybe Someday**

The woman couldn't help but give a hearty exclamation of having the chores done; the midday sun was exceptionally bright and warm, something that was simply exhilarating – she never got tired of it, even after a year. Shielding her eyes from the sunlight as she made her way across the sandy trail that was dotted with drops of rapidly evaporating water from the bucket she had just finished transporting across the way.

"For all the travelling we did, this takes a lot of work," Yuri gasped for air, stretching as he took a break from breaking up the dirt around a half-reconstructed building and mixing in soil. "Are you sure this is what you want to do, Estelle?"

The year had certainly been an experience for the former princess; first of all, her skin was tan from all of the travels she took on since her forfeiture of the throne. Her hair was grown as well, as there was little point in keeping it short when it was easier and cheaper to tie it into a single braid to her side. Most of all, her manner of dress was completely different; a pink plaid button-up shirt without sleeves was fairly easy to move around in, tucked into dark denim jeans – they wrapped around her boots, hugging her toned figure. The accessory she wore was the memento locket she treasured dearly, its chain peeking out of the edge of her collar.

Last but not least, a single golden band was on her left ring finger.

"Brave Vesperia's been growing, right?" Estelle grinned; even her run was different from the experiences she had from the past year. "If we build a base here, we just may be able to have it grow large enough to rival the Five Master Guilds and Palestralle!"

"But here on Mount Temza, though?" Yuri asked, as Estelle ran up to his side.

Estelle shook her head. "Nobody else is currently using it," she reasoned with confidence. "Besides, it's time to form some new memories on this land, don't you think?"

"I can't really argue with you," Yuri slipped his left arm around Estelle's hip; their matching rings made contact as their fingers awkwardly interlocked as he lowered his head to level with hers.

"So _this_ is what you two were up to."

Estelle sighed, turning to see a familiar face. "Rita, couldn't you at least wait until _after_ the good part?"

"Apparently not," Yuri chuckled, letting go of the young woman as he gave Rita a salute. "How's our favorite mage been doing?"

"You'll be glad to know that the final arrangements have been made," Rita made her way toward the couple; the sway of her hips only accented her physical maturity as her old clothes had trouble fitting her entire figure. At least Yuri didn't have to worry about that, not that Rita was one who cared much for appearances. "The draft you left with Ioder is reaching a final conclusion – three orders of power are going to be established, and these three orders will form the foundation for the republic you want."

"They're _still_ arguing over the names?" Yuri pressed his palm against his forehead.

"Well, of _course_," Estelle nudged him. "I'm not getting to name them, after all."

"Well, until now, we always referred to it as 'the Empire'," Rita shrugged. "But apparently according to ancient texts the three countries that existed in place of the Empire, the Guilds, and Myorzo were supposed to be Odin, Thor, and Fenrir."

"It would be nice if those names came back at some point in the future," Estelle laughed. "Thanks for keeping us updated on the Imperial side of things, Rita."

"Without me, the entire thing would fall apart!" Rita boasted, half-jokingly. "Flynn's been doing his part as the Commandant, but he's already been grooming someone else to take over his position. Word on the street is that Captain Sodia is going to get promoted _really_ soon."

"I don't blame him," Yuri commented. "I mean, they have a kid on the way."

"He was born!" Rita excitedly exclaimed. "I actually stopped by Aurnion on my way back from Zaphias, and got to see him! He's the most adorable thing _ever_! He has pointed ears, but no antennae, but that makes sense since he's a half-Krityan."

"Of course he is," Estelle laughed; if anything, she knew she had no regrets because her journeys were full of laughter.

"How does that happen, anyway?" Yuri scratched his head, confused. "There's no such thing as a half-Krityan."

"Come to think of it, you're right." Rita scratched her chin. "Estelle, you're the one who seemed the least surprised about the news, actually."

"Of course," Estelle smiled a bit mischievously. "I planned it that way, after all."

"You _what_?" Yuri lifted an eyebrow.

"You need to explain yourself," Rita sternly commanded.

"I asked Origin to make it possible," Estelle explained. "When I turned Krones into Origin, I asked him if he could close the divide between humans and Kritya. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it sounds like an even better one now!"

"You sly devil," Yuri couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I could've seen the look on Flynn's face when he found out that Judy was pregnant!"

"It happened pretty quickly, now that I think about it." Rita glanced at Yuri from the side of her eye. "I mean, even you two haven't gotten any kids."

Estelle coughed, "Rita, that's not the sort of thing we're thinking about right now!"

"Oh, sure, be all shy _now_," Rita rolled her eyes. "But when you're getting busy on the couch in Dahngrest, you're all like 'come on in, take a look, the carpet _doesn't_ match the drapes'! At least lock the damn door!"

The couple could only elicit nervous laughter, and attempted to change the subject. "So, what's the name?" Yuri held Estelle's hand as they awaited the news.

"Oh, that's easy," Rita grinned.


	16. The Opening of a Journey

**Epilogue : The Opening of a Journey**

Twenty years passed since the Great War.

The young man's brilliant eyes shone with promise, sparkling with the resilience of a tempered volition of much life experience despite his young age of nineteen years. He knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and the dream to change the world was one he inherited from his parents. The streets of this new city of Kresnik City were familiar to him from the past year after being accepted into Altosk, as the guild was heavily involved in the city's construction in the middle of the ocean to convert the remains of Zaude into this new center.

Catching sight of a familiar face, he saw the armored figure of one of the Imperial Knights; given the cape design, he could tell right away that it was a fairly new recruit. The armor was formed in such a way that it was quite obvious that it was a suited to fit a female, but what was even more odd was the presence of two armored appendages extended from the back of the collar.

"Hey, Tristan Dunamis!" Tristan turned around to see one of his senior members call out to him; it was the elderly gentleman, Raven. The years may have been on him, but you wouldn't have known it looking at him; he wore the same cloak, the same haircut, and the same attitude. "You know, this is a historical event. You ought to get inside of the Grand Hall and get ready. All the good seats are probably taken."

"And you'll be perched atop one of the pillars, Uncle Raven?" Tristan joked, nudging the old man in the arm. "_You're_ the one who ought to be careful! One of these days, you're going to fall down and break a hip. You need to recruit those with medical training if that event comes to pass."

"Those two certainly raised a cheeky brat, haven't they?" Raven scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, you can go girl-watching later. This is the first real meeting where all three branches of the world government are actually coming together as equals!"

"Right, right," Tristan sighed. "You don't have to remind me. I actually _did_ the pre-meeting reading."

Parting ways with Raven, Tristan looked back to the group of knights to see that the figure he caught sight of before; it was in vain, as the person he caught a glimpse of seemingly vanished.

The United World Summit, where the world's three powers came together; it was a historical moment. The entity formerly known as the Empire, the Guilds, and the denizens of Myorzo all cast aside their differences to convert Zaude into this grandiose city, a center of trade and commerce and to hold conventions of all kinds.

It was done so that Aurnion, the Land of Hope, could continue to be the way it was.

It was an amazing honor to be chosen to present the ideas of the United Guilds; Tristan was selected specifically because of his eloquent speech and youthful demeanor, and it didn't hurt that he had the connections to do so as well.

Making his way toward the towering building that was once known as Zaude, the twists and turns of the streets were something Tristan was used to, but the delays set by the gathering of people from all over the planet crowding and bottle-necking the various pathways was more than a pain in the neck; Tristan was half-tempted to just jump into the ocean and swim to the other end of the tower and use the hidden-back entrance. He then remembered that getting seawater on his new clothes would be a pain, so instead he found himself in an abandoned corridor which… was a dead end.

"Oh, bloody Hell," Tristan exhaled deeply as his breath managed to move some of his overgrown bangs out of his eyes.

"I thought I recognized you," a familiar voice teased; turning around, Tristan saw the armored female knight in front of him. Removing her helmet, Christina's expressions were a bit kinder than the first time Tristan recalled seeing eyes on her ten years ago. "It wouldn't do if you were late to present the Guild findings to the summit, would it?"

"I'm too busy trying to wrap my mind around the idea that you decided to become a _knight_ of all things!" Tristan shrugged, laughing. It was slightly annoying that Christina grew taller than him in the last three years. "I'd give you a shoulder pat, but those spikes don't look too comfortable." Tristan instead held up a palm.

"A wise move," Christina gave him a high-five, chuckling. "The knights aren't well-versed in aerial juggling techniques, so my fighting style is rather unique among them. It's nice that it's not just because I'm the first Krityan to join the knights, too. The only bother is that fashioning armor for my antennae is a pain and a half. It puts the whole deal of me being a Krityan-with-a-last name into perspective, that's for sure."

"Well, Judith taught you, and Flynn taught me!" Tristan laughed. "Then again, I learned a few moves from Uncle Yuri, too. Isn't it strange that even though those two share a fighting style, the execution is so different?"

"Not at all," Christina leaned against the wall, taking some of the weight from the armor off of herself. "No matter how in synch two people may be, they're always going to be two separate individuals. Even the Circle had members who, of their own volition, left and the Circle was the ultimate collective consciousness. Last I heard they have been talks of eliminating the Circle altogether as there's little point in maintaining it aside from tradition."

"It must be difficult being in your position," Tristan lowered his head.

"Not at all," Christina used her finger to bring Tristan's chin up. "Thanks to Commandant Sodia's influence, I've been helping with training new recruits and old timers alike in the art of aerial juggling. you're in a big position to help change the world, bit by bit, too. As Christina Dunamis, it's my wish to carry on these dreams toward a better tomorrow."

"So you are," Tristan beamed. "This world has been entrusted to all of us; nobody has to bear the burden all by themselves. Let's make sure that Aunt Estelle's pact stays intact, all right?"

"Of course!" The Krityan Knight nodded cheerily. "You know where to find me if you ever have a hard time, all right?"

"Not if you come to me, first."

Making their way back out of the alleyway, their fingers interlocked as the two young adults held hands, ready to face a new future.

-.-.-

**A/N:** Special thanks to K'Arthur and Mystacorika Ausa Fende for the beta notes, and thank _you_ for sitting through this monster of a piece. Until next time!


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